New Canaan Country School Celebrates Eighth Graders

In his remarks, he told the students that he is confident they will do great things with their lives. He also reminded them that academic preparation isn’t all they learned or all that they will need moving forward. “Skill and knowledge without courage is like a car without gas, it won’t go anywhere. You can come to a conclusion as to the next best step about a very difficult decision, but without courage, without that gas, you will be stuck.” He encouraged them to remember that they also learned how to be bold and resilient. Read Karl Palmgren's remarks.


Eighth Grader Sasha Valdes of New Canaan delivered the Class Reflection. She urged her classmates to remember their shared experiences and how brave they had grown. “We have been trying new things in spite of our fears since before we could walk, so why should we stop now? It may be hard, but we have done it before, and we must continue. If we do not try, we will never know how much we could have achieved.” Read Sasha Valdes' speech.

Members of the eighth grade Class of 2023 include:

Chloe Ableman, Samantha Aliapoulios, Capone Andrade, Lillian Back, Celia Baliotti, Christopher Blair, Consuelo Bowman, Katherine Branca, James Brooks, Andrew Burr, Octavio Calderini, Joseph Calio, Liam Cannon, Andres Catano, Ella Charron, Freya Collins, Caroline Coniglio, Julia Coniglio, Charlotte Cooper, Caitlyn Edwards, Hudson Feinberg, Emily Fonner, Ellis Frey, Graham Gale, Jonathan Gavidia, Peter Goodyear, Louisa Gosk, Brooks Harrington, Brett Humphrey, Harry Jellinek, Katherine Johnson, Larson Johnson, Isabella Kelley, Daley Keogh, Dilara Khan, William Kieske, Juliet Lannamann, Eleanor Levinson, Jayden Liu, Itzel Llamas, Katherine Maliakal, Madeline Maliakal, Finn Malkoun, Charlotte Mannix, William McKeown, Addison McNear, Hilary Miller, Grady O'Connor, Ryan Pauta, Jack Regan, Benjamin Ryan, Simeran Samra, Kayla Sanon, Matthew Silver, Olivia Spain, William Teles, Stewart Upson, Sasha Valdes, Jasper van Reesema, Blaire Williamson and Anna Zhuperina.

While 26 members of the class plan to return for ninth grade, 35 members of the class of 2023 will depart for the following secondary schools:

Berkshire School, Brien McMahon High School, Darien High School, Fairfield College Preparatory School, Georgetown Preparatory School, Greens Farms Academy, Greenwich Academy, King School, Millbrook School, Miss Porter's School, New Canaan High School, Rye Country Day School, St. George's School, St. Luke's School, Sacred Heart Greenwich, Westhill High School and Westminster School.