Thank you for Graduation 2020

Dear Faculty and Staff,

While the field is empty now, the memory is forever imprinted in our hearts.

This past Saturday, SSIS, as one of the very few schools around the world to have the opportunity to celebrate in-person with the Class of 2020, the extraordinary socially-distanced graduation ceremony brought a memorable end to an unforgettable year for these students!

Congratulations to the Class of 2020 on their graduation from SSIS!

And, congratulations to Jacob, Tim, Kelly, Julia, and the high school team for leading the wonderful commencement ceremony.  It truly took the entire SSIS community to successfully host this important event. This past year our graduation committee members included Ha Vo, Huyen Tran, Dzim Nguyen, Julia Bui, Katie Rigney-Zimmermann, George Marshall, Dr. Timothy Chute, Thomas Galvez, and John Salminen. They worked diligently to prepare for Saturday’s commencement and the ceremony was the culmination of their tireless work. Special thanks also to the ES and MS faculty and staff volunteers who helped support the highly complex ceremony.

Congratulations also to the speakers – High School Teacher Bilal Khan, and students Gabe and Kamille. Our Board Chair, Gayle Tsien, described the event as, “extraordinarily memorable for the graduates” and the speeches as, “meaningful and inspiring.”

Congratulations to administration and faculty members – David and Amy Chadwell, Dan and Lara Keller, and Chris and Emily Wolfe whose children are among the 74 students who graduated.

I felt like a proud mother on Saturday! And I know that Jacob felt like a proud father.  And, pride was the prevailing emotion of the day as parents celebrated their children receiving the greatest award that SSIS presents – the SSIS diploma.

To all the faculty and staff who cared for these students every day at SSIS, who taught them, coached them, and helped them to become the best versions of themselves, thank you.

Catriona & Jacob