Below are comments from the parents of graduating seniors as they reflected on their children’s Upper School experience.

I am profoundly grateful for my daughter’s experience at Principia School. I’m especially thankful for the counselors, teachers, and staff who are all so honest and earnest about helping students achieve their very best.

I’m so grateful for the sense of freedom here that has benefited my daughter. The people in the dorms, offices, and all around the School were like extended family members to her. Once, when she was on vacation with friends, my daughter said, “I’m ready to go home.” By that, she meant she was ready to go back to Principia. It’s been a second home to her.

Our son visited Principia in eighth grade and loved it. He told us he wanted to come to school here, and he wanted to bring his younger sister with him. My wife and I adopted both of these children from Ethiopia. In his previous school, my son was called names and harassed. At Principia, he was voted president of his class. What they’ve learned about leadership, morals, and their growth in Christian Science . . . it’s not an overstatement to say that Principia changed our children’s lives.

My granddaughter’s grown so much in Christian Science since coming to school here. I’m very grateful for everything she’s learned and the person she has become.

I’m deeply grateful for everything my children have received here. There have been so many wonderful individuals—Christly, loving adults—who have cherished them and brought them along.

Living in Germany, it wasn’t easy to send our daughter so far away, but she wanted to be here. We are grateful for the whole-person concept embraced at Principia. During her time at the Upper School, her academics blossomed. Her health improved. And social challenges were handled through prayer. Everyone—from the teachers, to the dorm moms, to the Sunday School teachers—helped her learn who she really is.

We are so grateful for Mary Kimball Morgan’s educational guidance that the School continues to follow. Also, for the true sense of spiritual childhood that is nurtured here. When we first visited, the love that radiated from the Pre-School classes to grade 12 was so evident, we knew our daughter had to come to school here. Her experience through the years has been one of joy!

I am particularly grateful for Principia’s extraordinary arts program. At a time when many schools are giving up the arts altogether, Principia is not only holding on to the arts, it’s excelling at them. This has been vitally important to my daughter and her high school experience.

Our family moved here from Mexico City, which was a challenge and a sacrifice. We’re so grateful for everything our daughter’s learned—about Christian Science, academics, the arts, athletics—and mostly, courage and love for humanity.

Just as in the Bible, miracles happen in the wilderness. For our family, that miracle is Principia. We’ve seen and experienced so much love here. I’m deeply grateful.

I’m grateful for how Principia has challenged my children. Every child is so different, with different needs and interests and talents. I can honestly say that my children have received what they needed here.

My son decided he wanted to come to Principia after seeing a slide show at camp. More than anything, he wanted to be surrounded by other Christian Scientists. He has been so nurtured here by everyone and his creativity has exploded!

I’m grateful for the whole village that is Principia—teachers, campus house nurses, deans, and so many others. When we first visited, what amazed me was that when the bell rang, students streamed into the hallways talking about their classes and what they were learning. What amazed my son most was the variety of donuts in the dining hall! The bottom line is that we both loved what we saw at Principia, and we still do.

I would like to recognize and express my gratitude for the amazing commitment made by the teachers here. They look at each child and say, “I see your potential.” Then, they do whatever’s necessary to help that child reach his or her potential.

When my grandson came to Principia, he had never played any sports. At Prin, he was able to jump right in and participate in football, wrestling, and track. The brotherhood and growth and joy he experienced were amazing. I’m grateful to all his coaches—so many good men who were positive role models of true manhood for him. I’m thankful he was able to live in an environment where character is taught by example.

I’m so grateful for Principia, which gives us the opportunity to provide our children with a strong foundation.

We’re grateful for all the wonderful mentors our daughter has had here. It’s been wonderful for her to be surrounded by people who believe in “no limits.”

Every aspect of Principia has blessed our son. He’s been supported and challenged by his teachers and coaches. He has been wonderfully mentored by the staff of the technology department. And recently he was able to attend the Freedom Foundations Conference with four other Principia students. Our gratitude truly overflows!

The limitless atmosphere at Principia has allowed our son to become the confident and spiritually grounded young man he is today.

I once read that the goal of parenting is to give your children both roots and wings. Principia has helped us do that. We have grown so much along with our children, who have been given deep roots, a firm foundation, and wings to soar, quite literally in the case of our daughter who earned her student pilot’s license as her senior project.

While I know that Principia is an amazing place, the growth I’ve seen in my daughter since coming to school here is remarkable. Probably the most influential factor is the loving and caring environment Principia provides. I’m impressed by the diverse make-up of the students and faculty, and the acceptance of everyone and their ability to contribute as equals.

My daughter has struggled in some of her classes, but the caring of her teachers and their willingness to help has enabled her to address those struggles and grow from them. The dorm staff has always been there for her when she needed caring advice. Although it was hard for me to “let her go,” seeing the vitality, spiritual growth, and love of life she now exudes leaves no question that Principia has been her right place. I could not be more thrilled.

My son recently graduated from Principia Upper School, and I would like to express my gratitude for all the growth and good he received at Principia.

When he first began looking at Principia, we felt he was too young to be sent away to school. We weren’t ready to let him go, but by the end of his freshman year in high school, it was obvious he needed a different environment. His needs were not being met.

He visited Principia and loved it. And then we had to love him enough to let him go. It was not an easy decision, but it was a right decision.

At his first school, when I expressed concern about his grades, his teachers would respond that he was a nice boy. They didn’t feel more was needed. At Principia, the teachers never stopped expecting more of him. His grades improved every quarter at Principia, and he even discovered new talents and interests.

When my son arrived at Principia, he was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to participate in sports. He had a recurring physical challenge as a child that had made it impossible for him to participate in sports. Although he had experienced a full healing, he didn’t have much experience with athletic competition.

Each year at Principia, he improved through sports camps and caring, dedicated coaches. By his senior year, he was on the Varsity soccer team and the Varsity track team. His 4 x 800m relay team went to State and took first place. Of course, my son was thrilled with this victory, but he was especially grateful to share this experience with a supportive and caring team.

It is often difficult to know how best to support our children’s spiritual, intellectual, physical, and emotional growth. As a parent, I have always prayed for the guidance to do the right thing. My husband and I genuinely love our two daughters’ company and the opportunity to teach and guide so it was not an obvious choice for us to let our youngest daughter go to school halfway across the country. But our daughter was very clear in her thinking and rationale and the application process was so natural and seamless that I had nothing left to say but “okay.”

When I came to family weekend, it all hit me in one fell swoop—there was no better place for her to be! The teachers were capable, attentive, and set a high standard. The dorm staff was a perfect extension to our parenting. The coaching staff was just the perfect blend of toughness and principle-centered competition. The level to which Christian Science was incorporated into the daily experience was unquestionably the basis for all the greatness evident at the school. As hard as it was for me to leave following family weekend, I knew I had made the right decision and that my daughter would be enveloped in Truth, Life, Love, Mind, Soul, Spirit, and Principle. How could we ask for more than that?

(It should be noted that the music/theatre programs are a deal-breaker for my daughter. She would never have tolerated a school that didn’t have the best of the best—and Prin does!)