Dear Families, Friends, and Colleagues,

What a truly extraordinary year we've shared! My heartfelt thanks go out to each of you for your invaluable contributions, which have made our community so exceptional.

Our campus has been absolutely buzzing with joy this past week, from the emotion of our moving-up ceremonies and the energy of our end-of-year concerts, to the poignant goodbyes we've extended to our newest graduates, of whom we are tremendously proud.

We conclude the year in a position of strength, reflecting our enduring commitment to nurturing children as thinkers and leaders — a tradition initiated by our trailblazing founders nearly a century ago. In this message, I'm excited to share some of the many highlights that shaped our remarkable year, from student triumphs to significant milestones for the school and our leadership.

Student Successes

This year, our students have again showcased the powerful results of EMS’ unique blend of joy and rigor, demonstrating what's possible when passion meets purpose. For instance, through our Morrow House Advanced Studies program, three of our eighth graders successfully tackled and passed the AP Psychology course, with two achieving perfect scores on the AP exam! We're also thrilled that one of our very own eighth graders has been invited to represent EMS globally this summer, joining an international cohort in Geneva for the Future Sustainability Innovators Program — an incredible opportunity focusing on leadership, innovation, and global perspective.

Again, our students showcased remarkable mathematical talent in national competitions, achieving top recognition in both the Continental Math League (CML) and the American Mathematics Competition (AMC 8). In the CML, we saw several students earn perfect scores, with one second-grader even receiving national recognition. Concurrently, in the challenging AMC 8, an EMS student received an Honor Roll Certificate for placing in the top 5% nationally, alongside other impressive top scorers within the school. These achievements clearly demonstrate EMS's strong commitment to developing exceptional problem-solving abilities and fostering a positive attitude toward mathematics.

Our seventh- and eighth-grade students earned top honors on the 2025 National Latin and National Spanish Exams, showcasing strong vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension skills. Their achievements included Gold (top 5% nationally), Silver (top 6–15% nationally), and Bronze (top 16-25% nationally) medals on the National Spanish Exam, and Summa Cum Laude (typically the top 10–15%), Magna Cum Laude, and Cum Laude honors on the National Latin Exam.

We’ve seen another year of incredibly successful secondary school placements, with our Class of 2025 accepted to world-class institutions such as Andover, Bergen Catholic, Dwight-Englewood, Exeter, Fieldston, Groton, Horace Mann, Hackley, Hotchkiss, Masters, Pomfret, Riverdale, Spence, St. Andrew's, Trinity, and many more. We're especially proud that 96% of our students received acceptances into at least one of their top three school choices, a testament to our focus on successful placements that truly match each student's needs and aspirations. Our students stand out as good citizens who are articulate and interesting and will rise to the challenges ahead, thanks to the high quality of our academic program. With our strong partnerships with schools and our reputation for excellence, we are also able to advocate well for our students.

Welcoming New Families

Beyond individual achievements, our growing enrollment speaks volumes. The notable increase in students joining us next year reflects the rising excitement around EMS and the vibrant, intellectually focused environment where children learn with a sense of wonder. This growth — along with our retention of enrolled families, which remains on track to be our highest in over a decade — clearly demonstrates the impact of our commitment to blending strong academic fundamentals with engaging, transformative experiences. We empower EMS students to think critically, work creatively, and lead confidently in our rapidly changing world by fostering human-centered design thinking and real-world problem-solving. As we intensify our focus on interdisciplinary, experiential learning, we're preparing our students to confidently navigate a future rich with interconnected ideas, technologies, and collaborators.

Strategic Plan First Steps

The Elisabeth Morrow School's new strategic plan, which officially launched last week, is already garnering positive feedback! This vital plan, which will guide our journey as we approach our centennial, is built upon our shared values and shaped by our collective wisdom, with input from across our community. It's structured around four pillars — Academic Programs, Signature Programs, Community Engagement, and Sustainable Growth — and guides us as my vision for this incredible community is to continue to raise the bar in key areas like math, science, technology, leadership, and entrepreneurship. You can dive deeper into the plan's goals and guiding principles on our strategic plan website.

As you continue reading below, you’ll see that we've already begun work in support of the plan, specifically around our curriculum, as academic excellence is the bedrock of our mission.

National Recognition

This year, we've seen an exciting increase in national recognition for EMS, a testament to our ongoing commitment to academic excellence and innovative programs. In the 2022–2023 academic year, we were honored to be designated an Apple Distinguished School, recognizing our position among the most innovative schools globally — and we remain the only N–8 school in New Jersey with this distinction. This was followed in the 2023–2024 academic year by our inclusion in the U.N. Global Schools Program, acknowledging our dedication to equipping students with the knowledge and skills needed to shape a more resilient and sustainable world. This academic year, our Morrow House student council earned the Student Council School of Excellence Award for their outstanding work in community service, leadership, citizenship, and school spirit. As we look at the 2025–2026 academic year, we're thrilled that EMS is a candidate for the National Blue Ribbon Schools Program, a prestigious honor that celebrates schools for exemplary high performance and overall academic excellence, representing the highest performing in the nation. These accolades reflect the remarkable achievements of our students and the dedication of our entire community.

Leadership Updates

We're delighted to announce that Amelia Gold, currently serving as associate head of school and director of the arts, will become the permanent head of lower school. Many of you know Amelia has been invaluable in leading Little School for the past two years, and her deep passion for working with young children truly shines in this role. To fully dedicate herself to leading Little School, Amelia will be stepping away from her position as associate head of school. We're incredibly grateful for her four years of exceptional service in that capacity, especially during a crucial period of transition where her more than three decades of leadership experience at EMS proved invaluable. As our leadership team's stability and strong momentum continue to drive our progress, we are phasing out the associate head of school position. We're thrilled that Amelia can now fully commit to what she loves most, continuing her amazing work as head of lower school and director of the arts.

We are also pleased to officially welcome Minnie Saladin as our new chief financial and operating officer on July 1, as announced in early March. Minnie brings nearly two decades of management experience, and we're incredibly excited for her to join our leadership team. Her energy and enthusiasm will undoubtedly be a tremendous asset to the EMS community.

As you may also recall from our March announcement, Cheyenne Pronga Cruz, our director of community life, equity, and belonging, will be leaving EMS at the end of this year. We reiterate our deep gratitude for Cheyenne's invaluable contributions to this essential work. Her dedication has been instrumental in shaping our efforts, and we wish her the very best in her future endeavors.

Our Summer Reading Selection

Last year's all-community read of “The Anxious Generation” proved to be a tremendous success, sparking vital conversations among faculty and families about teen mental health and the critical importance of play and independent exploration in childhood development. This led many of the members of our community to make a pledge to delay smartphone use for children and the Parents Association's successful "Let Grow Play” clubs, which EMS has committed to hosting on our campus next school year.

Building on this momentum, we're excited to announce that our next all-community summer read will be "Building Resilience in Children and Teens, 4th Edition" by Dr. Kenneth R. Ginsburg, whose work offers invaluable insights into boosting confidence and fostering lifelong grit in children. The book explores critical concepts like the "7 Crucial C’s" — competence, confidence, connection, character, contribution, coping, and control — and provides practical strategies for parents and caregivers to navigate academic pressures, media influences, and family dynamics. We look forward to gathering again in the fall for a communitywide event to discuss the book's impact and implications for our students.

We look forward to seeing many of you return to campus this summer for our EMS-only Eagle Arts Week, Summer Explorations, and our world-renowned Summer String Festival, which celebrates its 30th year! We will also host our annual summer coffee & conversation series on select Fridays in July and August, when we’ll sit down with educational experts to discuss parenting strategies for nursery- through middle school-aged children.

Whether you are on campus for summer events or would simply like to drop in for coffee with me, I look forward to seeing you soon.

Our division leaders will be in touch again in early July to ensure we have the information you need to prepare for the year ahead. In the meantime, on behalf of the faculty and staff at EMS, I wish you a reflective and restorative summer break!

In partnership,

Marek Beck, Ph.D.

Head of School