Closing Chapters & Celebrating New Beginnings: A Joyous Commencement for the Class of 2025

Chosen by the Class of 2025 as their commencement speaker, Alex Northrup, a longtime Foxcroft faculty member who currently serves as Director of The Innovation Lab and history teacher, reflected on the lessons he’s learned from the Class of 2025 in his address:

• Build community: “Create a culture where you support your peers, and your peers support you.”
• Be resilient: “The Class of 2025 truly exemplifies this… They persevered through the tough times to be here with us today. They have learned that they can do hard things!” 
• Be grateful: “[This class does] not take the many gifts they have been given for granted. They set time aside to reflect on and appreciate the many positive aspects of their lives.
• Embrace joy: “This is a class that knows how to have fun, and they made me laugh every single day.”

Grounded in his history curriculum, Northrup noted these lessons are vital during this point in time, which, he shared, “educational thinker Homa Tavangar calls a 'liminal moment' — a threshold where old ways of understanding the world are fading, but the new ones haven't fully emerged,” which can cause unsettled feelings. “So I say thank you to the Class of 2025 for helping me navigate through this time of uncertainty. Thank you for building community, showing resilience, and expressing gratitude. These are effective antidotes for our liminal times.”

Northrup’s address continued as he explored two pieces of advice for the Class of 2025: “be curious” (“Curiosity isn't just about knowledge; it sparks wonder, cultivates humility, and pushes back against despair by seeking connection and understanding.”) and “be a good ancestor.”  

“Being a good ancestor means considering how today’s actions shape the future — for our children, grandchildren, and beyond.” After sharing stories of how his own ancestors’ actions impacted the lives of the generations that followed, he closed by recognizing an ancestor shared among all the members of the Foxcroft community — Miss Charlotte, Foxcroft’s founder. “She was ahead of her time, for she was thinking about a ‘portrait of an ancestor’ from literally the first month of the School’s founding. She wanted all her students to leave Foxcroft with ‘a wise and understanding heart.’ This idea, in her words, would be ‘the guiding light of Foxcroft.’”

“Class of 2025, as you leave the garden today … it is your wise and understanding hearts that will not only guide you, but will illuminate the path for all who follow, through these liminal times and into the vibrant future you are destined to create.”

Senior Class speaker Subira K. ’25 then spoke to all gathered in the Garden, but most importantly to her classmates. “The day that we once dreamed of, but have come to dread, has finally arrived,” she said. “I, along with everyone joining us, am proud of all that we have accomplished during our time here.” 

Reflecting on their growth as individuals and as a class, Subira used cooking as a metaphor for the lessons learned, mistakes made, and successes celebrated. “When you first learn to cook, like when you first come to Foxcroft, you start with familiarizing yourself with unfamiliar ingredients, strange tools, and a lot of guesswork to get by,” she shared. “For most people, this happens when they leave home for college. For many of us, it happened when we were 14.” The experiences of coming together as New Girls quickly led to confident students who found their place and purpose at Foxcroft. “Once we became familiar with the tools and were capable of putting together a dish, we started pushing the boundaries of the kitchen … In trying new things, we were able to surprise ourselves with just how well we could perform, like for the spooky witch haunted house as well as for arguably some of the best final biology projects.” The members of the Class of 2025 have grown as scholars, athletes, artists, equestrians, and even chefs, and are ready to take on whatever lies ahead. “Knowing what you know now, you have to decide how to move forward, and if you are ready for it,” she remarked. “The answer is: you are always ready for it.”

Graduation and the end of the school year are a time of transition, of endings and new beginnings, for everyone in Miss Charlotte’s Garden, especially for the Class of 2025 but also for retiring Head of School Cathy McGehee, who was recognized with special honors by Board of Trustees Chair Natalie James Wiltshire ’95. “An alumna once said of Miss Charlotte that she believed she had Foxcroft written on her heart,” said Wiltshire. “I, too, believe that Foxcroft is written on Cathy McGehee’s heart, and that she, in turn, has left a lasting impact on all who have had the privilege of knowing her.”

The culminating event of the day brought Wiltshire forward to award diplomas to this impressive group. The Class of 2025 has accomplished much, receiving 211 offers of admission from 140 colleges and universities. Sixteen seniors were offered 30 merit scholarships totaling over $2.3 million. Four are AP scholars (one with Honor and one with Distinction), nine are members of Foxcroft’s chapter of Cum Laude, and four now hold a transcript designation in Foxcroft’s Academic Concentration program: three in STEM and one in The Arts.

Members of the Class will attend John Cabot University, McGill University, Middlebury College, Minerva University, Sewanee: The University of the South, University of Chicago, University of Virginia, Washington University in St. Louis, Williams College, and William & Mary, among others. View the complete list of college acceptances.

In addition to those announced at the Awards Assembly on Thursday afternoon, several prizes were given at Commencement, including Valedictorian Elle P., who will attend Chulalongkorn University, and Salutatorian Zoe S., who will attend the University of Virginia. Other top awards went to seniors Anna C., Eunice W., Patty A., and Flora W. The highest honors for younger students went to Mia D. ’26, Caroline W. ’26, Hadley D. ’27, and Kaylah P. ’28. View a complete list of awards and prizes.

Congratulations to the Class of 2025 on your graduation!