Welcome New Groton Families!

Excitement was in the air as the community anticipated today's new arrivals. They came from 16 U.S. states—Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Virginia—and the District of Columbia. New international students arrived from eleven countries: Canada, China, Finland, Ghana, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. 

 

The group is characterized by superlatives, and not only because Director of Admission Ian Gracey called it “the most interesting group of new students I’ve seen in my eight years here.” The 2015–16 entrants include the most students ever on financial aid—more than 40 percent, a new record for Groton thanks to the GRoton Affordability and INclusion (GRAIN) initiative. Under GRAIN, no applicants are turned away for financial reason.

 

The new students also are among the 12.4 percent of applicants who earned admission—Groton's most selective admission process, edging out last year’s 12.7 percent rate.

Families arriving today first stopped at the Headmaster’s House, where they met their children's faculty and student advisors. Student advisors are Sixth Formers who take new students to registration and dorms, show them around, and generally help them acclimate to their new school. 

Parents had time with dorm heads and faculty advisors before hearing Headmaster Temba Maqubela deliver a welcome—and a goodbye. “You love your children. They are going through another phase of their lives. They are going to fly,” he said. “Let them fly.” 

He told parents about the renovated Schoolhouse, which is about to open, calling it the best learning environment he has seen. He also introduced Vuyelwa Maqubela, his wife and a Groton English teacher, describing how thoroughly involved she is in the school and how much she supports students. 

“The Groton embrace is real,” he told parents. “Know that we will embrace and love your children like our own.”

The new students were not the first to arrive for the 2015–16 school year: the campus has been lively since Monday, when varsity athletes (including a few new students) arrived for preseason practices. All Sixth Formers have been on campus since Thursday, bonding and attending workshops to receive training for their new roles as "prefects," the school's leaders. 

Now it was the newcomers' turn to learn about Groton, make friends, and bond with their formmates. As their parents headed home, Groton's newest students already had begun three days of orientation.