On Friday, June 11, Rocky Hill Country Day School celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2021 with an in-person ceremony, sitting in family groups on the lawn of the historic, waterfront campus. The event was live streamed for extended family, friends, and faculty and a jumbo screen projected the event for optimal viewing. The ceremony included live speeches from Head of School Diane Rich, Don McCaughey from the Board of Trustees, and Senior Commencement Speaker, Jasper Summers of Providence. Class President Sara Laurent of North Kingstown presented the Class Gift. The class valedictorian was Lily Kutcher of Narragansett.

Each student came on stage to receive their diploma and hear adulations written about them by their advisor. The celebrations were concluded with one of the longest-standing traditions of Commencement, the Rose Ceremony, where students present roses to specific parents and faculty/staff who they wish to honor. In a final salute to the Class of 2021, Head of Upper School, Brady Wheatley, led the students on a procession through the community. 

As Diane Rich noted in her opening remarks, “we have transitioned from surviving to thriving. Last spring, we were uncertain and anxious. And now, look where we are. Specifically, look at where you graduates are.”

The following awards were presented:

Rocky Hill Country Day School Lifer Award: Sinead Burnett, Taylor Cote, Dylan Lehouiller, Matthew Sherry; Dumas Family World Language Award: Sarah Cunningham; Henry and Peggy Sharpe English Award: Lily Kutcher; Gregor/Coes Award in Mathematics: Jiayi “Bessie” Yang; Dr. Richard R. MacMahon Science Award: Grace Starosciak; Roberta Wintersteen Knight '61 History and Social Sciences Award: Sinead Burnett; Community Service Award: Jiayi “Bessie” Yang; Flynn Award for Sportsmanship: BJ Jenkins and Jordan Lanowy; Howland Music Award: Gregory Tatevian; Lillian Boynton Hale Art: Jasper Summers; The Willaim W. Mauran Bowl, Sarah Cunningham;  and the Richard S. Barker Sr. ’54 Community Service Award, Joan Osawa.

The Class of 2021

Stefania Andreev, Saunderstown

Sinead Burnett, East Greenwich

Lucia Cato, East Greenwich

Yiran Chen, Shenzhen, China

Taylor Cote, Warwick

Sarah Cunningham, Warwick

George Gabro, Barrington

Dante Garcia, Kingston

Alexey Greim, East Greenwich

Ava Grenier-Riley, Cranston

David Gutierrez, Central Falls

Benjamin Jenkins, Middletown

Troy Johnson, Middletown

Lily Kutcher, Narragansett

Jordan Lanowy, Jamestown

Sara Laurent, North Kingstown

Dylan Lehouiller, Saunderstown

Yuxiao Lin, North Providence

Tamira Lopes, Providence

Yuhan Lu, Richmond

Caelan Lynch, East Greenwich

Jeremiah Malone, East Greenwich

Mason Parker, Portsmouth

Marlon Monterosso, Providence

Chase Schulte, Warwick

Jasper Summers, Providence

Matthew Sherry, Wakefield

Irca Sian, Pawtucket

Grace Starosciak, Coventry

Jack Sweeney, Kingston

Daxton Tassone, West Kingston

Gregory Tatevian, Warwick

Abigail Tillinghast, Warwick

Bridget Vanderveer, Middletown

Ming Wang, Beijing, China

Connor Warner, Westerly

Alejandro Wu, East Greenwich

Zi Yi Wu, North Providence

Jiayi Yang, East Greenwich

Huijun Yu, Sichuan, China

Zhou Zheng, East Greenwich