On Friday, Oct. 14, and Saturday, Oct. 15, KO alums returned to campus for one of the biggest Homecomings in the history of the school.
This year’s Alumni Weekend aligned with Hewett Day, creating an opportunity for KO alums to connect with current Upper School students. Associate Director of Alumni and Parent Relations Frances Morris ’90 highlighted the temporal switch of the weekend. The last big reunion was in June of 2019, but then the pandemic hit, shutting down any plans for the 2020 reunion.
“During COVID-19, we decided that we really missed having students on campus because, in June, the campus is empty,” Mrs. Morris said. The biggest asset of Reunion Weekend is showcasing the school and students to alumni, but with events being planned in June, it was impossible for alums to see KO in full gear.
The Alumni and Parent Relations department decided that the event would be more successful and impactful for students and alums if the weekend was scheduled during a time when there are students on campus. “Hewett Day seemed like the best choice because it’s a day that means something to our alumni as much as it means something to our students,” Mrs. Morris said.
One of the events of Alumni Weekend was a luncheon held on Friday, Oct. 14, where alums and Upper School club and affinity group leaders made connections between present campus activities and the alums’ recollection of their days at KO. “We decided to have student leaders representing different groups and clubs on campus host the alumni, start some conversations, and see what happens,” Mrs. Morris said.
Since Reunion Weekend overlapped with Hewett Day, the timing was perfect for alumni to attend sports competitions on Saturday afternoon, and there was a good turnout of alumni who reconnected with their high school coaches and supported the teams they were on when they were at KO. “It allowed us the opportunity to draw more people onto campus and pack the stands with KO supporters,” Director of Athletics Josh Balabuch said.
Arguably, the most sentimental events that happened on campus were a handful of master classes hosted by longtime KO faculty, providing a unique opportunity to reconnect with teachers and courses taken during alums’ high school years. “Some of the legendary teachers who have been here forever – Mr. Kyff, Mr. Goodman, Mr. Levine – taught masterclasses just for alumni, so they can come back and sit in a classroom and have one more class,” Mrs. Morris said.
Other than these main events of the weekend, there were lots of fun activities for alumni to take part in over the course of the day. Senior Symposium students led a class on this year’s Baird English Symposium author, Tayari Jones, luncheons were hosted to bring the community together, and alumni were invited to take part in the pep rally on Friday, Oct. 14. “We’re having a fun run, we’re doing luncheons, we’re having alumni awards,” Mrs. Morris said. “We hope it’s all going to make our community bigger.”
For the whole weekend to be successful, the Alumni and Parent Relations department had to reach out to many KO graduates, keeping in mind landmark reunion years. “We do pay special attention to alumni who are having a five-year-year or a 10-year reunion; those are the people we really go out and personally invite,” Mrs. Morris said. “All alumni are welcome, but it’s a little bit more special for the fives and the tens.”
On the whole, Reunion Weekend aimed to show the alumni what KO students are up to these days and to bring them back to the good old days. “Those kinds of things are exciting for us alumni,” Mrs. Morris said. “It makes us remember when we were really happy here.”
The Reunion Weekend was organized and run by the Alumni office led by director of Alumni and Parent Relations Elizabeth Fahy Bellingrath ‘78.
