Students woke up this morning prepared for a Friday like any other.

Head of School Brad Bates woke up this morning, watched the sun rising east over the Wapack Range, thought about work and then thought better of it. It was going to be a beautiful fall day in Dublin, too beautiful a day to spend indoors. 

Thank goodness there's a precedent at Dublin School for these kind of situations, a time-honored tradition that the Head of School can invoke whenever the moment is right: Mountain Day.

Today is Mountain Day! But don't tell your students, let them hear the chiming bell ring out across campus as they settle into their seats for a class day like all the rest, let them flood across the quad in excitement as they scramble to fill water bottles, knot their shoes, throw together a lunch.  

A student, Walker B. '27, gave me the side-eye at Morning Meeting - he said "I know it's Mountain Day. I'm never wrong. You're wearing hiking shoes." 

"I don't know what you're talking about, Walker. I wear these everyday."

He cracked an incredulous smile. 

 The bell rung out, and within the hour students had begun the ascent up Mount Monadnock via the nearly-vertical White Dot trail. Some hung back at Base Camp to talk and sketch, all were outdoors on this beautiful day. And what a day it was! We'll be back with more photos and stories from the outing in next week's edition of the Quad. 

 

Article by Liam Sullivan