Commencement 2010

Chairman Burke, Reverend Bagley, Tom Curley, Members of The Derryfield Board of Trustees, Esteemed Faculty & Staff, Derryfield Alumni . . . Parents, Grandparents and Family members of the class of 2010, and most importantly, our guests of honor, The Members of the Class of 2010, it is my pleasure to Greet all of you on this wonderful occasion of our 43^rd commencement ceremony. Thank you all for being here – and to those to my left, we are particularly glad you are here.

Last year I asked the graduating class “What makes a good graduation speech?” Their resounding, instant answer - “Short, Mr. Sellers. Short.” I did not even ask the Class of 2010, because, well, that is the kind of question most Heads of School only have to ask once.

Still, I have the privilege of sharing my thoughts with you on this glorious day, and I thought I would take a moment to do just that.

Whenever I travel I make it a point to spend time with at least one school in the area. I love to eat the local food, listen to the local music . . . but I particularly like to see how the young people in that area are educated. Over the years I have developed a kind of short-hand – boiling my inquiry down to just a few questions. But listening to the response gave me a window – and often a door - in to the culture of the school.

I have come to think that If there is a single question that provides a path to understanding what a school is really about, I think it is “What does your school celebrate?”

What do we celebrate at Derryfield?

I want to offer this question this morning like the ringing of an opening bell that I hope will echo throughout this extraordinary day – What does Derryfield celebrate?

Here’s my simple answer: the people in this room at Graduation.

First, the Faculty – since our founding the Derryfield school has had an uncommon understanding that what breathes life into our mission are consummate professionals who are passionate about learning and achieving, and who want to share that passion with young people. The faculty make our school sing, make our school inspiring, make our school a place where young people want to come and be their best. We celebrate our faculty at a time like this because the proof of your work is right here.

Next: our friends and families. I came to Derryfield in part because the culture welcomed families, and made me think “that school gets it.” Families have their children 16 hours a day. We have them 8 – of course we have to work together to on behalf of your children – our students.” Of course we should build a culture where friends & family ties are celebrated. It only makes sense” – well, you might be surprised how many schools don’t see it that way.

Additionally, the level of volunteerism and support that pours forth from the friends and families in this room is truly astonishing. Many families have made all kinds of sacrifices to have your children be at our school, and in particular, be on this stage right now. That is truly worth celebrating.

Most importantly – the young people to my left. You may hear it many times today, so let me be the first: You are the reason for the day. You are the reason for this moment. You give us cause to celebrate. If someone said to me “Tell me about Derryfield – tell me what you celebrate” – I would respond “Come to graduation. You will see - We celebrate students.”

I would expect that a visitor from any town, from any culture, who was here today to understand that We are deeply proud of you, both what you have accomplished, and how you have accomplished it. Your achievements in academics, in the arts and athletics, have been nothing short of extraordinary. The friendships you have developed here are genuine and, no doubt, long lasting. The service you have performed has helped countless people, and the goodwill you have generated will continue to echo in our local and global communities. You have inspired each other, your teachers and your friends and families, and you have done it with style and grace.

It really is an honor to say, Class of 2010, you are the reason for the celebration at The Derryfield School. You are the reason we are here today. And so I will end my opening remarks by saying – this time, just to our graduates – thank you for being here.

Awards Day 2010

May 28^th 2010

We are here today to honor the extraordinary accomplishments of many, many of our students. And when we gather in these ceremonial occasions we take a moment to honor the mission, the values, and the philosophies that got us here to this lovely auditorium filled with bright, motivated teachers, faculty, students and parents.

Specifically, our Statement of Philosophy on Awards provides the framework for our time together in the same way it guided the faculty in selecting the recipients. Quoting from the Statement now: “The granting of awards at Derryfield should inspire our students to be their best, reinforce the school’s core values, and provide learning opportunities for both award winners and those who did not win.”

It goes on, but I’ll summarize – we seek to reward individual students for living the school’s values while acknowledging that everyone whose name is called today has a village of supportive family, teachers and friends who helped to get them to this place and time.

Because I think this philosophy does such a good job of capturing an essential truth about our school, I want to begin with gratitude - reflecting on our own village - and saying simply “thank you – we could not be here without you.”

Thank you, Mrs. Flagg and Mrs. Keefe-Hancock for the way you have shaped this gathering with attention to detail and caring for everyone involved. Thank you.

To the parents who are here today – thank you. Many of you, as I understand it, are here with a certain mystery in the air. Welcome - You honor us with your presence, and you illustrate our belief that our school is at its best when we collaborate on this exploration called education. And besides, the world needs a little more fun-filled mysteries with happy endings.

To the faculty and staff – you have created an environment where students seek to excel, where it is cool to be smart, and then proceed to the field, the stage or out into the community and continue that level of excellence. I have observed in the past that we don’t really have a similar awards day for faculty & staff, but I believe that for every award presented today a Derryfield faculty or staff member – more likely, several – took a chance on a shy student, stood by a struggling student, or supported a student in a time of need. The students we will hear about today are award worthy in part because of the extraordinary effort, intelligence and compassion of the adults in the Derryfield community.

I want to make sure to give everyone here today an opportunity to say thank you to the faculty and staff at Derryfield who inspired you, and to ask our students to join me in leading that thank you. Thank you, Derryfield faculty & staff.

Finally, to our students – I may risk losing a few of you with this description, which is certainly not my intention - but this is the kind of fun you can have when you are Head of School . . .

Did you see Rajon Rondo dive for that ball in game 3 (I am not talking about game 4 or 5)? In many ways I think that is the kind of performance we are here to honor today. In a group of 10 gifted people on the floor, Rondo’s extra effort made the difference between really good, and something truly outstanding.

And then, did you see what that effort did for his team? The whole team – I think the whole Garden, really - rose-up to a new level and played with a kind of heart and intensity that was nothing short of exceptional.

I think that feeling – that reminder of what exceptional looks like – is what Awards Day does for our community. So I want to thank you for diving for that ball, singing beautifully when it did not come easy, serving others when you may have had other things on your mind, studying for that test when you got back late from practice. I know you have learned a lot along the way. What I want you, our students, to be certain of is that you inspired us – your teachers, parents, and friends – and that your extra effort has lifted up our entire school to a new level of what it means to be a joyful community celebrating accomplishments with each other.

Thank you.

Founders Day 2010

The following are my opening remarks to this year's Founders Day. I will never forget
extraordinary singing from our concert choir at the end of the program. Andrew Cox '10
rearranged "Sing Out for Derryfield" and the entire auditorium discovered the song all
again - it was exceptional.

I have the honor of Welcoming everyone to Founders Day. My name is Craig Sellers,
I am the Head of School of The Derryfield School, and we all have the honor of being
in the same room with some very, very important people today. Welcome to faculty,
staff, students, parents and alumni – I think we will have an inspiring morning together.

On behalf of the entire Derryfield School, I want to extend a warm, grateful and
genuine welcome to those who are the Founders of our School. We look forward to
thanking you, to applauding your presence, but before we do that the History teacher
in me says that first I should briefly create some context:

In the early 1960's some local parents started meeting in Manchester and Bedford homes, talking about the dream of starting an independent college preparatory, day school. They had a vision, and that was a desire to have an extraordinary education for their children, and still have their children come home at night to have dinner, talk about the day, and go to sleep under one roof. This timeless idea led to convincing 39 families to contribute $1000 each (a lot of money then) so that the Head of the Advanced Studies Program at St. Paul's School, Philip Hugny, could be hired and set up in a tiny office to plan a school. During that time, 1963 & 1964, the Founders recruited students, rented buildings, talked with parents, and a myriad of other details that became the future of our school.


The school opened in 1965 with 108 students and 11 faculty. The basic building on River Road was built and opened in 1967.


Our Founders – our Jeffersons, our Franklins, our amongst us today. Each had an integral role – take one away in those early days, and we might not be here. Change one significant decision, and we may have gone off in a different direction. Each had a determination to work against the odds for something timeless, something inspiring, something that ultimately became the Derryfield School.

I look forward to this day in part because the Founders remind us about the power of a
great idea. The vision of combining profoundly talented faculty, eager students and a
culture of respect – all while having our children home for dinner at night – well, that
is simply a timeless and powerful. As much as the world has changed since the
early 1960s, as much as the pace of change is likely to do nothing but accelerate, our
school was conceived with timeless ideals in mind.

One of the many habits that I admire about our school is that we set this day aside each year
to remind us of that eternal vision, and to let us express our gratitude to you.

I would like the following Founders to stand at this time so that we can applaud you and thank you

· Ann Feins
· Hilda Fleisher
· Ellie Freedman
· David Stahl
· Dick and Fran Winneg