--- title: "FA Graduation 2026: ‘Homesick for a Place You Haven’t Even Left Yet’" description: Friends Academy graduated 81 seniors in the Class of 2026. --- [News at Friends Academy ](https://www.friendsacademy.org/news) # [FA Graduation 2026: ‘Homesick for a Place You Haven’t Even Left Yet’](https://www.friendsacademy.org/news/graduation-2026-upper-school-friends-academy) Written by [Matt Gagne](https://www.friendsacademy.org/news/author/matt-gagne) | Jun 13, 2026 8:16:54 PM Friends Academy graduated 81 seniors Saturday on a sun-drenched, cool-breeze morning and celebrated their ultimate legacy: year over year, they were a deeply connected group that elevated the school’s entire community with their courage, confidence, laughter, joy, and endless kindness. There was no threat of rain — only blue skies as far as the eye could see — but it was fitting that the Class of 2026 received their diplomas underneath a large tent on the school’s historic Quad. Just a few weeks ago, a large contingent of seniors played a class prank that proved to be all class and zero prank. They camped out on the Quad, setting up several tents and even a kiddie-sized waterslide as a festive accoutrement. Led on guitar by a classmate who’s headed to the Berklee College of Music, they sang campfire songs into the wee hours at the top of their lungs. Near the end, everyone crammed into the largest tent to share literal warmth and linger in the kind of warm glow they had so often created for everyone on campus. Senior Bryan Bin (pictured below) gave the closing graduation speech and said of that night, “There was nowhere else in the world I would rather be.” He looked out at his classmates and added, “It is a deeply weird feeling — to be homesick for a place you have not even left yet. To miss people who are sitting three feet away from you. So the lesson I'm taking is to just: stay. For as long as you possibly can, in whatever is left of this: just stay. As Andy Bernard said in *The Office*, ‘I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days before you’ve actually left them.’ Moments are meant to be fleeting, so look around and take it in.” Moments might be fleeting, but epiphanies can take longer to materialize. Senior Sofia Schwarz (pictured below) delivered the opening graduation speech and said of their Quad campout, “We slowly realized the prank was on us, as we rolled out the next morning sleepless and freezing and somehow with smiles on all our faces.” Part of the Friends Academy experience is that all K-12 students regularly convene in The Meeting House for deep personal reflection and strengthening community bonds. That the 2026 senior “prank” created this Meeting House dynamic on the Quad in such a simple, almost primal way — to be human is to feel belonging in the chorus of campfire songs — speaks volumes about their place in school history as Friends approaches its 150th anniversary. Mrs. Nailah Moonsammy, the school’s DEI director and the faculty speaker at this year’s commencement, said, “Anthropologists remind us that real human strength is collective, not individual. As ‘obligately gregarious’ beings, our survival has always relied on our capacity to cooperate and protect our social bonds. We need community, tribe, family, and friends; we need one another, simply and plainly. In over 20 years of teaching, I have never seen a cohort champion that evolutionary truth the way these seniors have.” *Clockwise from bottom right: Head of School Mr. Paul Stellato; Henry Brett-Chin, who revealed the senior’s gift to the school; Mrs. Nailah Moonsammy, the faculty speaker at commencement and the school’s DEI director.* Translated for Gen Z, Mrs. Moonsammy commended the seniors for always bringing the right “vibes.” “There is always a bit of anxiety the morning of a senior prank,” she said. “But this year, that anxiety was quelled by the Quad’s transformation into a temporary campground. Faculty, staff, maintenance, and students walked into a space that generated laughter and joy. In anthropology, we talk about the power of collective energy — the invisible social glue or magic that allows a community to thrive. This class understands that intuitively. You don’t just occupy a space; you curate the atmosphere. Through your humor, mischief, playfulness, and care for one another, you have embraced the art of collective joy.” The only thing the seniors didn’t intuitively understand was the need for a bigger tent. Yet when such a tent was erected for graduation, they weren’t merely sitting beneath it. In a way, they were holding it up for all those who will come after them. Leading his final graduation ceremony before retiring at the end of the month, Head of School Mr. Paul Stellato said, “Having watched you every morning during senior meeting; in community groups and plays, performances, and games; having watched you conceive of and execute a senior prank that elevated and inspired the entire school; having watched you weep at the Meeting for Reflection and cling to one another in moments of great joy and deep sorrow; having had a glimpse of your impact through the care you have given to our younger students; and, finally, seeing you today achingly beautiful, joyful, loving, and seemingly more youthful than you have ever been … and the timing of all of this could not be better, for I have the luxury now of casting off any constraints that may have bound me. Or, putting it another way, I can say what sits deep in my heart … I am pleased to name you the greatest class in the history of Friends Academy!” Which begs the question: What is greatness? “Greatness is never a solo endeavor,” Mrs. Moonsammy said. “Although as a society we frequently credit individuals for major achievements, the reality is that the true architect of progress is always the community. Greatness does not require perfection. It requires imagination, community, intellect, and hope — all things you possess in abundance.” On a picturesque day when the senior class could have sat on the grass and sung campfire songs seemingly forever, they threw their graduation caps in the air, marched out of the tent, and scattered across the Quad in myriad directions — the first steps toward new beginnings and journeys. In the lingering moments as graduates took photos and hugged one another before the Quad emptied out, both Bryan’s call to “stay” and Sofia’s advice for the future felt prescient beyond their years. “When the world moves too fast, and it will,” she said, “you already know what to do, because you have been doing it for four years. Find your people. Hold on to them.” In the end, the Class of 2026 learned that the size of their tent on the Quad doesn’t matter because the idea of it will follow them forever. “I am reminded,” Mrs. Moonsammy said, “of a powerful insight from the author and activist belle hooks, who wrote, ‘The love we make in community stays with us wherever we go.’ Your community lives within you. I truly believe that what you have accomplished here — this deep awareness of joy, stewardship, trust, and radical love, which I believe are the core ingredients to greatness — is a gift you will carry and use for the rest of your lives.” #### Here is the Friends Academy graduating Class of 2026: Akash Agarwal Jonathan Daniel Almendares-Montes Raghav Bansal Daniella Berritto Bryan S. Bin William Tate Bohner Tyler James Bragoli Mackenzie Leah Breg Henry Brett-Chin Emma Reese Brock James Patrick Byrnes IV Shuoming Chang Paige Maria Cicciari Alexa Paige Cohen Jemima Jane Constantino Juliette Rose D'Addario James Kelvin Damassia Alvin E. Deng Sophia Elizabeth Diaz Aiden Dufford Jordan Tyler Eisbruck Edward Beiles Englander Henry Bryan Esquenet Ava Taylor Estrella Cynthia Rashel Eustache Abigail Maryann Hope Frazer Jenna Allison Gambella Natalia Nalini Gambino Amanda Gimbel Katherine Goldstein Chelsea Anne Gordon Zack Ethan Grossman Andie Rose Herman Ava Loren Jaklitsch Pia Jauhar Nicholai Jordan Ethan Myles Kalimian Komalpreet Kaur Jacob Kim Jack Hudson Kozinn Shane Benjamin Kramer Marley Sage Kraska Marina Sofia Krichmar Nicole M. Kuchta Aaron Sam Labelson Devin Jacob Lane Honoria Eleanor Adele Lawton Flatters Dylan Xavier Leon Zijia Li Mason A. Linken Aidan Antonio Lloves Marcella Dani Mallin Mircea Manu Mina Alia Marchetti Crystal Evelyn Mendoza Kody Alan Mitchell Cooper Forde Mott Naina Narula Charles Vincent Nevin James Rexford Otto Yushi Peng Angelina Josephine Posada Taylor Rose Price Arielle Savannah Roberts Blaise Clermont Saad Sofia Elise Schwarz Jordan Bella Shallat Vir Vinnay Singh Collin Samuel Trust Chris Coby Tsiolis Jr. Winston Leith Vance Meher Singh Walia Julang Wang Jared Michael Williams Lia Jordan Winters Dylan Rachel Wolf Charlotte Heather Yanke Jaime Yeung Charli Soleil Zahtila Feng Xin Zhang Daren Zhong *Photos by Island Photography* [View full post](https://www.friendsacademy.org/news/graduation-2026-upper-school-friends-academy) ```json { "@context" : "http://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Matt Gagne" }, "dateModified" : "2026-07-02T15:35:59.509Z", "datePublished" : "2026-06-13T20:16:54Z", "headline" : "FA Graduation 2026: ‘Homesick for a Place You Haven’t Even Left Yet’", "image" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 800, "url" : "https://admissions.fa.org/hubfs/Friends%20Academy%20Graduation%202026%201.png", "width" : 1200 }, "mainEntityOfPage" : "https://www.friendsacademy.org/news/graduation-2026-upper-school-friends-academy", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 60, "url" : "/hs/hsstatic/content_shared_assets/static-1.4092/img/default-amp-logo.png", "width" : 60 }, "name" : "FA News" } } ```