Start of Spring 2026 Semester

January 2026

Dear Northfield Mount Hermon community,

Congratulations on the successful launch of our spring semester. From the internal ramping up of campus operations to the return of our student leaders to opening faculty meetings to our school gathering with Arshay Cooper, I appreciate the hopeful energy and positivity our community members have offered one another as we returned to our lives here at Northfield Mount Hermon.

As we return, I also know well that many of us continue to experience national and global shifts in very different ways. Of course, I understand that this can contribute to the “muchness” that many of us can feel as we process these shifts and their potential impact on our families, friends, and communities. I am reminded of the stories shared by our speaker Will Giordano-Perez ’04, who offered how he held daily both the satisfaction of being a student here with the painful realities his family experienced beyond NMH’s campus. He named a reality — and a tension — that many students and adults experience every day at NMH, and I know well that, for many, events taking place here and around the world make our days far more difficult.

In Will’s words to our community, he noted how much it meant to him that several fellow students and adults saw him and knew of some of his struggles. He spoke about the power of connection and care. Last week, Arshay Cooper reinforced this message as he offered examples of teachers, coaches, and friends who gave him hope when he felt the world was lining up against him. So, today, I want to shine the light on their messages and remind all of us that we have the capacity to offer care, comfort, and connection to our neighbors here at NMH. Let us make sure that all of us have a trusted adult, a friend, and a colleague who sees us and knows what we are walking with every day. Let us strive to find strength in our community.

At NMH, we focus on our mission and values without conditions. Our purpose has been — and will remain — to educate and equip young people to depart here ready to serve and lead with humanity and purpose. Our values of inclusivity, learning for life, and service reflect our unbending aspiration to embrace differences, to seek to understand varied perspectives, and to recognize the importance of putting others’ needs ahead of our own.

Next week, we will shift our community focus to celebrate the life and contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. As we do, I ask us to consider his well-known words: “And I say to you, I have also decided to stick with love, for I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems” (speech to Southern Leadership Conference, 1967). At NMH, let us choose the radical love that inspired our founding over hate at every turn. This is our DNA and illuminates to us all how we move forward together with our heads, hearts, and hands.

With love and gratitude,

Brian H. Hargrove P ’24, ’26
Head of School