NCS Opens Its 118th School Year

National Cathedral School opened its 118th school year Sept. 5 as students, faculty, parents, and staff gathered in the Washington National Cathedral for the school's annual Opening Service.

 

Beginning with a procession of 4th graders hand-in-hand with 12th graders — signaling the path of education at NCS — down the center of the Cathedral, the service included readings and prayers from students in Grades 6 through 12, songs from the Cathedral Girl Choristers and members of the NCS Chorale, and a homily by Head of School Kathleen O'Neill Jamieson.

 

Mrs. Jamieson reflected sadly on protests by white supremacists last month in Charlottesville, Va., that "offended everything this school stands for and teaches," and she admitted, "I struggle to speak of the evil that exists in a world that I want to be beautiful and kind and fair and generous for each of you." But she urged her audience to "dig deep and keep the faith," vowing, "We will persist in our determination to be a model community that upholds the values of excellence, service, courage and conscience."

 

"If we are to love as God loves us, we must be more than kind. We must sacrifice. We must pursue understanding. We must forgive, and we must teach what we come to know," Mrs. Jamieson said. "The name of this school could not be a clearer message of our mission to lead and to love. Both our country and our Cathedral make plain their values and expectations of us. The National Cathedral School believes in its power to educate young people to use their hearts, minds, and hands to support the well-being of others."

 

The service concluded with the blessing of the American flag and the singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” Immediately afterward, NCS student government officers raised the flag just north of the Cathedral — a tradition that dates to the very beginning of the school — to mark the official start of the year.