GREENWICH ACADEMY— A stream of students in long white dresses flowed down to the front lawn at Greenwich Academy's 2005 graduation ceremony on Thursday, May 26, at 5:00 PM. With the countless hours of school work, athletic games, performances and community service projects completed, each of the 65 seniors processed from Ruth West Campbell Hall, a single yellow rose in hand, into a large white tent filled with proud parents, invited guests, cheering schoolmates and devoted faculty. Although rain threatened throughout the day, excitement was in the air.

Before presenting each graduating senior with her diploma, Head of School Molly H. King welcomed the group. " We will always remember these young women for their generosity of spirit and their exemplification of the school’s motto, 'Toward the Building of Character.' Their leadership in the school this year has been extraordinary—both in character and achievement. They have excelled in the classroom—measured by impressive GPAs, APs, college placement and, most importantly, by their authentic engagement with their teachers, with their courses and with one another."

Guest speaker, the Reverend Peter J. Gomes, who is the Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and the Pusey Minister of Memorial Church, Harvard University, was introduced by the valedictorian. Professor Reverend Gomes spoke with humor and sincerity to the seniors saying, "The test of your education will be how you cope when you don't succeed. Failure will encourage you to reflect on what is worth doing." Reading from what Gomes called the best graduation speech, the audience enjoyed passages from Dr. Seuss's book Oh, the Places You'll Go.

Chosen by her fellow seniors, the class speaker shared her often humorous stories about the class during the last 14 years at the Academy, including memories and events, which established their class traditions, such as the Gator-Aid fund raiser.

Graduation is a very traditional event at Greenwich Academy, the sixth oldest girls’ schools in the nation. During the 178th commencement , each of the 65 seniors was paired with a Lower School student who acted as her flower girl and carried a basket of fresh flowers to the graduate on stage at the end of the ceremony. The only award given at graduation is the Katherine Hewitt Award, known as the Good Companion Lamp, was presented to two of the graduating seniors who were chosen by their classmates for personifying the spirit of friendship to their class and school. Other time-honored traditions include the entrusting of symbols to the newly elected president of the school and Middle School president.

Elizabethan flower songs sung by the students during the ceremony, which have remained the same for over a century, echoed through out the tent, to the delight of the graduates, parents, family members, friends, alumnae and schoolmates, including the entire Upper School, Groups VI, VII and VIII of the Middle School, faculty and the flower girls from the Lower School.