Commencement Fall ’26

Winsor's 132nd Commencement ceremony on June 9 honored the 65 members of Class of 2026. Family and friends, teachers and classmates, and Classes I–VII gathered in the Winsor courtyard to celebrate the graduates’ hard work that led them to this milestone. 

Yemisi Adetowubo ’26 and Alisa Ross ’26 read a passage selected by the class from A. A. Milne’s The House at Pooh Corner. In Milne’s scene, Christopher Robin asks Pooh to promise he’ll never forget him, “not even when I’m a hundred,” drawing a parallel to the seniors’ end of their enchanted Winsor experience and to their class theme, “Once Upon a Time.” 

Led by Choral Director Andrew Marshall, Illumina then performed “Blessing” by Katie Moran Bart before Allison Kaneb Pellegrino ’89, P’21, ’22, president of the Winsor Board of Trustees, took to the podium. Ms. Pellegrino commended this year’s seniors for acting as hosts of institutional knowledge for Head of School Meredith Legg P’32 in her first year at Winsor and highlighted the professional, social, and emotional “permanent safety net” of the Winsor community. “Winsor is always here for you,” she said. 

The seniors’ pick for their class song, “We’re Going to Be Friends” by Jack White and originally performed by the White Stripes, shaped Ms. Legg’s address to the graduating class. Ms. Legg said the song “encapsulates the way you have approached your time together, seniors…with wonder—that insatiable curiosity, that thirst for knowledge, that appreciation for the world expanding before you.” 

Following a performance of “Jerusalem” by C. Hubert H. Parry and accompanied by Head of Performing Arts Felicia Brady-Lopez, selected speaker Alessa Andrews ’26 spoke to her peers about the role of their class community in their future journeys. “As we create new communities, we must replicate the lessons we learned and the moments that made our class great,” she said. “Find things you can agree on, like the fairy-tale theme. Build a community around your core values, and bring them to life in all of your experiences.” 

Senior Class President LianaMin ’26 then introduced this year’s commencement speaker, Dr. Leslie Dewan ’02, CEO of the nuclear technology consulting firm Neutronic Designs. Liana described how the senior class was drawn to Leslie’s “authentic joy” in their first meeting in the early spring, and how she “met every question we asked with one of her own, replying with genuine interest and sharp wit.”

Recalling sitting in the seats of the graduating class twenty-four years ago, Leslie described how she always knew she wanted to work in science. Yet, she said, “I did not expect how much of my career would come to depend on connecting with people.” 

Leslie said her work requires trust, conversation, and an ability to explain complicated ideas clearly. “When I think about where I first learned to do that, I think about Winsor,” she said, commending Winsor for allowing her “to move comfortably between different ways of thinking and different ways of being in the world.” 

In closing, Leslie called on the Class of 2026: “Protect your sense of wonder, your joy, and your curiosity. Keep creating community and connection wherever you go. Carry forward the habit of explaining what you know clearly and generously, because some of the most important work you will ever do will involve helping other people see something they could not see before. And carry forward the breadth that Winsor has given you: the ability to move among fields, among communities, and among different ways of thinking,” she said. “And wherever life takes you next, know that Winsor goes with you.”

Walking (or, in one case, moonwalking) onstage to accept their diplomas, the Class of 2026 then received hugs, high-fives or proud nods from Ms. Legg, Class VIII Dean David Griffin, and Head of Upper School Kimberly Ramos. “Friends and family, on behalf of the faculty and staff, and the trustees of the Winsor School, I present the graduates of the Class of 2026,” said Ms. Legg, which was met by the applause of some 1,200 community members and a flurry of 65 red roses tossed into the air.