Hip Hip Hooray and Happy New Year! On Friday, September 2, students, faculty, and staff from the Downtown and Merle-Smith campuses gathered together in Central Moravian Church for our traditional Opening Chapel.

It was joyful to be together for the first time in three years, to make music together, and to raise our school flag together at the heart of the Downtown Campus.

In her first Chapel message, Interim Head of School, Adrianne Finley Odell, reflected on reaching our unique potential: being ourselves and respecting others to be themselves, and in the process, creating a beloved community of belonging. She referenced the book Be You by Peter H. Reynolds, which encourages us to live a big life by being curious, adventurous, patient, brave, and ready.

School Chaplain, Rev. Jennifer Nichols, welcomed us to the space. Dylan Deal, Director of the Merle-Smith Campus, offered the Invocation. Bharti Krishnan ’30 led us in the School Prayer and Eric Weems '27 led a responsive reading from the Moravian Book of Worship. Our traditional Moravian Birthday Prayer was offered by our new Downtown Campus leaders, Abby Mahone, Director of the Downtown Campus, and Sara Vanderbeck and George Andriko, Assistant Directors of the Downtown Campus. Upper School Co-President Eli Zemsky '23 read from Galatians 6, including these verses:

Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself or compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. What you plant, you will harvest.

Our Associate Head of School, Armistead Webster, offered a Benediction from Pablo Casels, who wrote:

Do you know what you are? You are a marvel. You are unique.... there has never been another you.... You have the capacity for anything... And as you grow up, you must never harm another who is, like you, a marvel. You must cherish one another. You must work, we must all work, to make this world worthy of its children.

Following the Benediction, students and faculty processed to the flagpole, where the familiar words of our Alma Mater rang out joyfully: To the school that we will cherish, as we go along life's way, all the friends and classes taught there, we'll remember all our days. We are proud to be a part of all the things we hold so dear. Dear Moravian, our Moravian, shall shine forth throughout the years. Upper School Co-President, Elena Tongg Weiler '23 raised the flags with first grader, Nolan Lal '34, and the celebration concluded with our annual shout: "Hip! Hip! Hooray, and have a great year!"