Celebrating the Class of 2026
Below you will find all of the pertinent information for the Class of 2026's final few months.
Key dates
Students only
Monday, May 11th to Friday, June 5th Service Learning
Tuesday, May 26th, 5pm Cross-Generational Civil Rights Trip Debrief (attendance not required but strongly encouraged)
- Gordon is excited to bring together judges, attorneys, Bishop Hendricken students, Charles River School eighth graders, and Gordon eighth graders to compare and process experiences on each respective civil rights trip. A light dinner will be provided.
Friday, May 29th Field Day (rain date June 5)
Monday, June 8th and Tuesday, June 9th Commencement rehearsals
Tuesday, June 9th Creating eighth grade tiles
Wednesday, June 10:
- 12pm Eight graders stay after regular school dismissal for a last Commencement rehearsal; pick-up at 12:30pm
- 4pm Eighth grade students should return to campus, to the front circle and dressed for graduation, for official school photos and some time with just their classmates before Commencement
Students and caregivers
Saturday, May 2nd, 10am to 3pm Carnival
Thursday, May 21st Green & White Day
Thursday, June 4th, 6:30pm CJ Buckley Experiential Learning Night (attendance required)
- Students will make formal presentations reflecting their service learning experiences to their parents, peers, and teachers. This event recognizes C.J. Buckley ‘00, who was profoundly impacted by his service learning experience. The program is now funded in part by an endowment established in his memory. Details will be sent seperately.
Friday, May 29th Bike to School Day (rain date June 5)
Wednesday, June 10th, 5pm Commencement (more details in a section below)
Class gift
Gordon has a longstanding tradition in which eighth grade parents support a class gift that honors their children’s years at Gordon. This year, the gift will celebrate those who have been most responsible for your children’s growth at Gordon: our world class faculty and staff.
Our hope for the class gift is to offer Gordon's faculty and staff a collective thank you for the deep investment they've made in this remarkable class of soon-to-be Gordon graduates.
The goal for the class gift is to raise $20,000. These funds will allow us to provide expressions of gratitude for Gordon’s faculty and staff that may include providing teachers with professional development offerings that would otherwise be out of reach, surprising them with a coffee truck or breakfast one morning, or even gifting them some Gordon gear so they can share their pride in the very school they love so dearly. In short, we want to sustain the very people who have sustained your children (and you!) throughout their childhood at Gordon.
Our sincerest hope is that every family in the class of 2026 will support the class gift, making it a genuinely collective thank you to our faculty and staff from the entire class of 2026 and their families. A simple start to consider: when your child entered Gordon, you were asked to make a $400 deposit. This deposit can be donated back to the school along with an additional gift, all of which will go towards our $20,000 goal.
If you have yet to make your gift, gifts can be made here
For more information or answers to any questions, please contact Greg Carson, gcarson@gordonschool.org
Service Learning
Monday, May 11th to Friday. June 5th
Eighth grade service learning is a capstone of the Gordon experience. Since the first days at Gordon, students have been building the skills and the knowledge they will need to help make the world a better place. On their eighth grade trip to Georgia and Alabama, they meet with activists working for justice in their own communities, and then students return to Rhode Island ready to practice making change in their own community.
Students work off campus, five days a week, three hours a day (9ish-12:00ish depending on bus drop offs and pick ups), for the final month of their eighth grade year to learn more about themselves and their community. Places we have partnered with over the years and continue to partner with include: Amos House, Avenue Concept, Down City Design, Highlander School, Pleasant View Elementary School, Osamequin Farm, McAuley House, Progreso Latino, and Community Music Works.
Gordon is continually working to expand this list so that this lesson can better highlight the diversity of need and challenges in our state and so that we can place students at sites that align with their passion or interest in social justice work.
Commencement
Graduation is our culminating celebration of the Class of 2026. Below is all the information your family will need to know for the big day.
- When
- Commencement is at 5:00-7:00pm under a tent in front of the school. We are returning this year to our traditional location, after a few years of being transplanted to Engle Field (originally due to Covid restrictions). All graduates should arrive at Gordon near the main circle at 4:00pm for photographs.
- Who
- The Class of 2026! While we do not limit the number of people you invite to Commencement, there will be a family seating section where each graduate’s household can have four seats in a designated and reserved area in the tent. If your family takes more than four seats in this section, it will mean that the family of another graduate will not have their designated spots. It is our hope that this seating arrangement will allow all families to have easy access for photographs and enjoy the ceremonies equally. Seating in this area, and all areas, will be on a first-come basis beginning at 4:00pm. We will not allow families to save seats in the family section or in any other sections before 4:00pm. Let Kim Mongeon know if any special accommodations are needed for your guests. Guests (beyond that four) are welcome to sit in other sections of the tent.
- Media
- Commencement will be live streamed through a link on Gordon’s website for family and friends who are not able to be on campus for the ceremony.
- The Commencement ceremony will be professionally photographed. All the photos will be posted on Flickr for you to download within a couple weeks. Video of the live stream will be available on Gordon's YouTube site.
- Diplomas
- Attached is a list of students’ formal names the way they will be printed on diplomas. If you have any changes, please email Kim Mongeon by Friday, May 29th.
- What to wear
- Jackets and ties, dresses, skirts, or slacks are appropriate for this formal event. For safety reasons, practical footwear is recommended. If you have any questions about an outfit, please feel free to call.
- What to bring
- An ongoing tradition that we will continue this year is for graduates to bring a long stemmed flower of their choice. This flower will be placed by the graduate in a vase on the stage, along with those of the rest of the graduating class, and the collection becomes a beautiful, personalized bouquet.