Yesterday, for the first time in 30 years, the entire SPA student body from both campuses, grades K-12, gathered together as a united community for an all-school assembly. Instead of tutorial, upper school students made their way to the bleachers on Lang Field for another round of homecoming festivities. They were joined simultaneously by the lower school students and faculty, disembarking their buses.

The event started with a speech from the Head of School, Dr. Luis Ottley, who remarked on the occasion’s significance: “Today is an opportunity to build lasting bonds across grades,” he said.

He invited kindergarteners and lower schoolers to look around and look at what was in front of them. And, equally importantly, for seniors to look back upon where they came from, whether they went to the lower school or not.

From there, the seniors and kindergarteners earnestly burst into some meaningful bond-building. As the name of each awestruck kindergartener was announced, a group of seniors came forth bearing beaded necklaces as welcome gifts.

The voices of all grade levels and faculty rang out joyfully, singing the famous SPA song “Stand Up.” Upper and middle school students, perhaps less familiar with this hallmark of the lower school, were handed papers with the lyrics written out so that all could participate. To top it all off, Mason Hang performed his verse in the song, along with his siblings.

Finally, senior Henry Hilton, dressed in full spartan attire, stormed onto the field to lead the spartan beat. The loud clapping and stomping rocked the bleachers, echoing across the field. Hilton, joined by co-spartan senior Lukas Hembre, will lead the storming of the field Friday at the carnival.

Leading up to the whole-school festivities Friday, this get-together was important, as Dr. Ottley said, to build connections. Meetings like this have been few and far between in the past, but he wanted to change that… As he finished his speech, he announced that this would be an annual occurrence in the future.