Traditions

List of 8 items.

• Annual School Theme

  Each year, fifth graders, with assistance from the faculty, choose a school-wide theme that will be integrated the following year when they are sixth graders. A tradition that started in 1995, themes usually focus on a character or moral issue such as respect, friendship, honesty, courage, and leadership. The school theme for 2026–2027 is Tenacity.
  
  Teachers and students alike find various ways to weave this theme into classrooms, assemblies, and extracurricular activities. Sixth-grade students are expected to serve as role models and leaders, demonstrating the positive qualities of the themes. In addition, an individual who embodies the current theme is invited to speak with students in the upper grades. After leaving Tenacre, many students speak about how much the theme helped them grow as a person.

• Assemblies

  Assemblies bring the whole Tenacre community together, building unity and school pride. Three mornings a week, students and staff gather for an all-school assembly. Each one is hosted by a staff member or a class, who might perform a skit, give a reading, play a musical instrument, or share slides from a favorite place or pastime. Assemblies open with either the Pledge of Allegiance or the Tenacre Pledge, followed by student and staff announcements.
  
  

  These gatherings give students real practice in public speaking and help them grow comfortable in front of an audience, while also offering a wonderful chance for the different grades to come together.

  
  Beyond these weekly assemblies, the Tenacre Parents' Association (TPA) sponsors several special assemblies each year that enrich the curriculum. Past assemblies have featured African American and Native American storytellers, dancers from around the world, puppet shows, and science-based performances.

• Community Service

  Community Service plays an important role at Tenacre throughout the school year. Parents and faculty collaborate to support students' participation in projects that are relevant and appropriate to children’s developmental stages. This enhances the home/school partnership while supporting organizations that are part of our community. Beginning in sixth grade, students engage in service-learning opportunities off campus, giving them the chance to participate in service projects in a direct, hands-on way.
  
  Examples of Tenacre Community Service projects include:
  

  • Monthly food drives supporting The Wellesley Food Pantry
  • Collection of canned goods supporting A Place to Turn
  • Student and parent volunteering at Cradles to Crayons
  • Donation of craft supplies and student-made fleece blankets to Horizons for Homeless
  • Activity boxes packed and delivered to pediatric cancer patients at Boston Children's Hospital through the Jared Box Project
  • Tenacre-sponsored water table at The Boston Marathon to benefit Dana Farber/Children's Hospital
  • Tenacre's blood drive, held in conjunction with the American Red Cross 

• Apple Pie Run

  The Apple Pie Run is a tradition that welcomes the entire family to Tenacre’s campus for a fun run/walk. Held in early October every year, the event invites families to walk or run a 1-mile loop through campus. Students, siblings, and parents all participate. At the finish line, everyone is treated to donuts and apple cider. All participants receive an apple pie to take home, and apple pies are also donated to a local food pantry.

• December Performances

  In December, all students perform in holiday performances. Children in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade, and second grade participate in December Nights, December Lights. Their performance usually takes place in the first week of December. Children in grades three through six participate in December Celebration, which takes place the third week in December.

• Orchard Day

  In the spring, Tenacre students eagerly anticipate Orchard Day, a Tenacre tradition since 1952. Each spring, when the apple blossoms are at their peak in the Phyllis Scoboria Orchard, students in Grades 1–5 prepare a skit or poem that honors the sixth graders and says “good-bye” to them. Each sixth grader is presented with a gift by the school. The first grade plants its class apple tree, and the entire school joins in the singing of the Tenacre Song. This very special tradition brings the school together symbolically to remind future generations of those who came before them. Orchard Day is a special event for children and staff.

• Tenacre Fair

  The Tenacre Fair is a beloved spring tradition dating back to 1991. Each May, the Tenacre Parents' Association welcomes Tenacre students, faculty, staff, family, friends, and members of the local community to a day of fun. Featuring rides, games, prizes, food, and a highly anticipated raffle, the Fair is the school's largest community outreach event. Students create several of the games in tech class,  and every parent/guardian and staff member contributes to making the Fair a great success by volunteering their time. The Fair helps fund important TPA activities throughout the year, and a significant portion of Fair proceeds is donated to a local charity.

• GrandFriends’ Day

  Every two years, Tenacre hosts GrandFriends’ Day, a beloved tradition in which grandparents and specials friends are invited to spend the morning on the Tenacre campus. Typically, GrandFriends spend the morning socializing with each other, attending class with students, watching student performances, and participating in a photo booth. For GrandFriends’ Day 2025, more than 200 GrandFriends enthusiastically attended and outnumbered Tenacre’s student population! The next GrandFriends’ Day will be held in the spring of 2027.