The First Day of a Great-Hearted School Year

“The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.” – Plato, The Republic

The first day of school is always met with anticipation, the return to familiar routines, and joyful reunions between faculty and scholars after summer break. Many of our Great Hearts academies in Arizona welcomed students back to school, marking the beginning of the 2026-27 school year. Kindergarteners experienced their first first day of school, while the new seniors came for their last first day of school, both met with a few transitional cheers and tears.

This was a particularly monumental last first day for the seniors at Great Hearts Roosevelt. They are the very first senior class in the school’s history, marking the first last first day for the Buckeye academy. Confused yet?

“This year we have our first graduating class, our Class of 2027,” explained Headmaster Tony Cruz. “It’s exciting in a lot of ways. I think most of our students in our senior class have been here since their freshman year. And so, there’s a lot of excitement. They understand the sort of foundation that they’re creating in terms of culture and in terms of expectations around intellectual virtue. They act a lot as our leaders. It’s just really exciting because it is very much them owning the fact that they’re pioneers in the work that we’re doing.”

These pioneers started the week with a “Senior Sunrise” at 5:30 AM, where they reunited with their classmates, took photos together, and then received an overview from Headmaster Cruz of what their senior year would look like.

“Our headmaster sat us down and talked to us about a poem that he really liked and its meaning to us as the first senior class and as the first people who would graduate from Great Hearts Roosevelt,” shared David Spencer, a senior who has attended Great Hearts since the first grade. The poem was The Builders by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which speaks about how every person contributes to the history and character of a community.

Spencer feels fortunate to have received such a full education over the years. “The way that Great Hearts has taught me to engage with not even just literature, but any subject is such a gift, and I’m really grateful for that,” he said. Spencer looks forward to blazing a trail this year for senior classes that will come after him. “One of the things our headmaster said to us was, ‘Instead of following traditions, we are creating them.’”

Elena Othon remembers starting as part of the first freshmen class, with no other highschoolers above her. “I know how much I would have appreciated someone to look up to,” she shared. “If I can even just impact a couple of kids, then I will be so beyond grateful. I’m looking forward for this senior year to continue to hang out with my friends and have fun for as long as I’m still here and leave a lasting impression.”

What a great start to what looks to be another banner year for our students from kindergarten to senior year at Great Hearts. We hope everyone had an amazing first day, whether it was the first, the last, or anywhere in between.

The Builders by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

All are architects of Fate,
Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
Some with ornaments of rhyme.

Nothing useless is, or low;
Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
Strengthens and supports the rest.

For the structure that we raise,
Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
Are the blocks with which we build.

Truly shape and fashion these;
Leave no yawning gaps between;
Think not, because no man sees,
Such things will remain unseen.

In the elder days of Art,
Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
For the Gods see everywhere.

Let us do our work as well,
Both the unseen and the seen;
Make the house, where Gods may dwell,
Beautiful, entire, and clean.

Else our lives are incomplete,
Standing in these walls of Time,
Broken stairways, where the feet
Stumble as they seek to climb.

Build to-day, then, strong and sure,
With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure
Shall to-morrow find its place.

Thus alone can we attain
To those turrets, where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
And one boundless reach of sky.

Do you have a story or know of one that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts? Please contactjmoore@greatheartsamerica.org.

Submit a student application to a Great Hearts Academy by visiting: https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/enroll/.