Parkside Celebrates the Class of 2026
A joyful Graduation & Achievement Ceremony marks a milestone in the school’s 40th anniversary year
On Wednesday, June 17, the Parkside community gathered at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan to celebrate the Class of 2026 at the school’s annual Graduation & Achievement Ceremony for Classes 5-2 and 5-4. Families, friends, faculty, and staff filled the L2 Auditorium to cheer on our graduates and the students moving up—capping a school year that also marked Parkside’s 40th anniversary.
The afternoon opened with music from one of Parkside’s own: graduate Sammy Jennings ’26 performed “Ode to Joy” and “Marche Militaire” as the prelude, before the audience rose for the processional, “Pomp and Circumstance.” Co-Head Leslie Thorne welcomed everyone and set the tone for an afternoon of pride, gratitude, and celebration.
Students from Room 5-4 and Room 5-2 gave moving speeches about their time at Parkside, and took the stage to perform songs from Matilda—“School Song” and “When I Grow Up” (music and lyrics by Tim Minchin)—filling the auditorium with the kind of joy and confidence that a Parkside education is all about.
A highlight of the ceremony was the alumni address from Noah Akrong, Class of 2019, who returned to Parkside to share his journey from a young student finding his footing to a graduating senior headed to college. Noah is graduating from The Lowell School with a Regents Diploma and will attend SUNY Old Westbury to study literature and media. His full remarks appear below.
Alumni Address: Noah Akrong ’19
I am honored to be back at Parkside to speak with you all about life after Parkside. Thank you, students, parents, staff, and friends, for being here today to celebrate the students’ elementary school graduation.
I am deeply grateful to the Parkside community for teaching me in my early school years. I was attending Metropolitan Montessori School before I started at Parkside. At my previous school, I started having learning difficulties. After many interviews, I was accepted to attend Parkside School. This became the turning point in my learning journey. The Parkside School helped me academically with the support I needed for my learning differences. I was provided with a reading teacher, a speech-language teacher, an Occupational Therapist (OT), and a counselor. My reading teacher supported me in my vocabulary, reading, and understanding information. In addition, my speech-language teacher helped me by supporting my communication skills, including providing enough information for listening and comprehending. My OT teacher helped with my coordination difficulties and counseling helped me to deal with frustration when work became challenging. I also liked to draw and at Parkside, I used drawing to tell my teachers things about how I understood my work. I am deeply grateful to the Parkside teachers and staff for helping me and continuing to help others.
I have many memorable moments at Parkside with other students and staff. I am grateful for the support and encouragement I received, as I was able to face challenges and develop strategies to move forward. I especially enjoyed participating in the stage plays, the chess club and chorus, where I further developed my skills. With these skills, I gained confidence. I continued to pursue learning to play the violin outside of school and even performed with my brothers at many events. Being in front of an audience to play the violin was not scary because I was in front of audiences in many stage plays at Parkside. I appreciate the staff for taking the time and helping me with my learning differences. With their help in breaking down information into smaller units, my reading comprehension, decoding, and fluency improved. One teacher who stands out is Ms. Ament, my fifth-grade teacher, who encouraged me to enjoy history and Math. I received a lot of “knock my socks off” marks on my work. All the skills I learned at Parkside followed me through middle and high school at The Lowell School.
After Parkside, I attended Lowell Middle School and High School. At the Lowell Middle and High School, I participated in sports, soccer, basketball, and softball. I met new friends and amazing teachers there, too. I volunteered for the backstage crew for the high school play. I am now graduating from Lowell High School with a Regents Diploma, and I was accepted into five different colleges. The college I chose is SUNY Old Westbury to study literature and media. The path I am on could not have been possible without Parkside School. All of the support I received along the way from Parkside teachers and supportive staff helped me to reach my goal.
I want to thank all of the Parkside staff and parents for their devotion and assistance to their children, and thank my parents for always being by my side on this journey. I am extremely grateful to my family, friends, and all the teachers and staff for their love and support along the way. For the graduates going to middle school, I encourage you to never give up on your dreams and to continue developing your talents and strengths. Remember, we all have strengths and weaknesses, but the most important advice I would give you, the graduates, is to always keep moving forward.
Congratulations to the Parkside Class of 2026. Thank you.
Following Noah’s address, Co-Head and co-founder Albina Miller delivered the End of Year Address, and a slide presentation looked back on a memorable year together. Co-Head Leslie Thorne offered closing remarks before the graduates recessed to “Walking on Sunshine”—smiles, caps, and cheers all around.
Congratulations to the Parkside Class of 2026!
