The One Hundred Fiftieth Sacred Heart Commencement

Bryn Mawr, PA: On Thursday, June 9, 2016, Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Bryn Mawr celebrated the 150th Commencement with thirty-six seniors in the Class of 2016. The Class of 2016 celebrated their Baccalaureate Mass at Saint Thomas of Villanova, the Rosemont Chapel on June 8.

Kathryn Donnelly ’16 was the Salutatorian. The 150th graduating class earned 202 acceptances to 147 colleges and universities from ten states in the U.S. Four students will play college athletics at the following schools: Tufts University, St. Joseph’s University, Cabrini University, and Sarah Lawrence College. Twenty seniors graduated with Honors and fifteen are members of the National Honor Society.

Emily Apakian ’16 was the Valedictorian and spoke to her fellow classmates about the traits and qualities she hopes they continue to foster in their next phase of life. Kindness, the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate was emphasized in Emily’s speech. Goal five encourages all members of the school community to show respect, acceptance, and concern for themselves and for others. The small, caring and supportive environment at Country Day School of the Sacred Heart cultivates students of all ages to be proactive, engaged and independent-thinkers with consideration of the world around them.

The commencement speaker was Linda Robinson, B.A., M.A., Former Chair of the English Department and Integrated Humanities Program. Nineteen received distinct senior awards and several seniors recently received the following community recognition: Emily Apakian ’16 represented CDSSH at the 37th Archdiocesan Academic Honors Convocation, Mary Rayer ’16 was selected to have artwork on display in a SH Network School in Uganda, Ally Schell ’16, was a recent Main Line Girls Athlete of the Week and received the Hon. William F. Dannehower Scholar Athlete Award, Shannon Mulgrew ‘16, was selected as one of the 9 finalists for Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame Athletes in Delaware County, Marian Rosario ’16 received the Princeton Prize Certificate of Accomplishment in Race Relations and four seniors from China: Vanessa Fang ’16, Pat Huang ’16, Rienta Tan ’16 and Gloria XU ’16 were the first graduating class in the U.S. as part of the Cambridge Institute of International Education. As freshmen, the thirty-six seniors came to the Bryn Mawr campus from twenty-one surrounding zip codes and utilized their diverse, energetic and bright dispositions during their four years of high school to grow as individuals intellectually and develop into women who will make a difference.

The graduates gathered on the mansion patio for the traditional class photo and hat toss. The 150th Commencement marks the closing of the school’s Sesquicentennial celebration.