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 2023-2024 is Pride.
  
  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 in exhibiting 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 everyone at Tenacre together and help build unity and school pride. Three days a week, students and staff come together for a morning assembly. A staff member or a class will host the assembly and perform a skit, read, play a musical instrument, or share slides of a favorite place or past-time. Each assembly begins with either the pledge of allegiance or the Tenacre pledge, followed by student or staff announcements.

   

  Through these assemblies, students learn about public speaking and how to be comfortable in front of an audience. It is a nice time for the various grades to gather together. In addition to these weekly assemblies, the TPA (Tenacre Parents' Association) sponsors several assemblies each year that enhance the curriculum. We have had African American and Native American storytellers, dancers from different countries, puppet shows, and science-based shows.

• Community Service

  Community Service plays an important role at Tenacre throughout the school year. Parents and faculty work collaboratively to support student participation in projects that are relevant and appropriate to the children’s developmental stages. This serves to enhance the home/school partnership while supporting organizations that are a part of our community. Beginning in sixth grade, students engage in service learning opportunities off campus, giving them the chance to be involved in service projects in a direct, hands-on way. Recent Community Service projects include: monthly food drives supporting The Wellesley Food Pantry, collection of canned goods in support of A Place to Turn, student and parent volunteering at Cradles to Crayons, the donation of craft supplies and student-made fleece blankets to Horizons for Homeless, activity boxes packed and delivered to pediatric cancer patients at Children's Hospital through the Jared Box Project, personal products and letters of thanks sent to soldiers stationed in Afghanistan, and a Tenacre-sponsored water table at The Boston Marathon to Benefit Dana Farber/Children's Hospital and the Annual Red Cross Blood Drive.

• Apple Pie Run

  The Apple Pie Run is a tradition that welcomes the entire family to Tenacre’s campus for a fun run/walk through the campus. Held in early October every year, families are invited to walk or run a 1-mile loop through campus. Students, siblings, and parents all participate. The event finishes in the Phyllis Scoboria Orchard, where 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 sing in a holiday performance. Children in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, first grade, and second grade participate in December Nights December Lights. Their performance usually takes place the first week in December. Children in grades three through six participate in December Celebration, which takes place the third week in December. 

• Orchard Day

  In the spring, all 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 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 in a symbolic way 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 great 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 and often provide live music, 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 are also 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 2023, more than 200 GrandFriends enthusiastically attended and outnumbered Tenacre’s student population! The next GrandFriends’ Day will be held in the spring of 2025.