Moravian Academy | Purpose. Presence. Progress.

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Discover how Purpose, Presence, and Progress shape our students' experiences.

Update: May 24, 2026

This year's all-school theme, Purpose. Presence. Progress., was not chosen arbitrarily. It described exactly what we set out to do in year three of our strategic plan, More to Explore, and exactly what your children experienced as a result. As we close out the year, I want to share what each of those words meant in practice.

Watch a Video Message from Head of School, Adrianne Finley Odell →

Purpose

Everything we build at Moravian Academy begins with a clear answer to the question: what are we preparing students for? This year, we completed the articulation of the skills in the Portrait of a Graduate, a school-wide framework that defines the proficiencies, dispositions, and competencies every Moravian student develops across their years with us. It is now the foundation for how we design curriculum, assess learning, and develop programs.

It is also the animating idea behind the Center for Civic Leadership and Innovation, which gained significant momentum this year backed by more than $145,000 in philanthropic support and anchored by four pillars: Civic Leadership, Civil Discourse, Exponential Technologies, and Sustainability. Moravian Academy was also selected as a Villars Institute Learning Partner, connecting our students to a global network advancing climate and sustainability education. At the Swain Campus, $50,000 has been secured to design and launch a formal Entrepreneurship and Design Thinking program in 2026–27. We also partnered with idealis. to develop BraveMinds, a new summer leadership institute for rising Grades 7–8 students that will help young adolescents explore leadership identity, collaboration, and purpose-driven impact. These are not programs for their own sake; they exist because we are clear about what a Moravian education should make possible in a student's life.

Presence

Great teaching is the most direct expression of care for a child, and this year we invested deeply in it. Our Educational Leadership Team grounded its work in John Hattie's Visible Learning research over the summer, then brought nationally recognized assessment expert Dr. Tom Guskey to campus for a school-wide faculty workshop in the fall. A rich conversation about AI and pedagogy followed with Dr. Randy Ziegenfuss. A school-wide grading statement is being finalized, one that will bring greater clarity, consistency, and fairness to how we assess and communicate student progress across all three campuses.

The R.E.A.L. Discussion program launched this year as a pilot in Grades 6 (HDC), 8 (SC), and 9, giving students structured practice in the civil, substantive dialogue that is increasingly rare and genuinely powerful. Beginning next year, it will reach every student in Grades 6 through 9. We also launched the LEAPS Academic Coaching Program at the Merle-Smith Campus because presence also means making sure every kind of learner has the support they need to thrive. LEAPS was so popular with our Upper School families, we hired a second learning specialist mid-year to meet demand.

Progress

None of this work stands still. The Board of Trustees approved a long-range campus facilities plan this year, because the learning environments we are building need to match the quality of the education happening inside them. A capital campaign feasibility study is now underway. Previously we anticipated having design thinking sessions this spring. We’re moving them to the fall to benefit from the feasibility study results.

Our new curriculum mapping tool is being launched across all three campuses, giving teachers and leaders a clear picture of how the Portrait of a Graduate comes to life across every grade and discipline, from Early Childhood through Grade 12. The programs we piloted this year, R.E.A.L. Discussion and LEAPS are scaling up in 2026–27, moving from promising beginnings to school-wide impact. Next year we’ll pilot a new Entrepreneurship program at Swain and expand athletic opportunities for elementary school students, plus continue building out the Center for Civic Leadership and Innovation.

Purpose. Presence. Progress.

Three words. Three years into a five-year plan. A school that is, every day, becoming more fully itself.
Thank you for the trust you place in Moravian Academy. This progress belongs to all of us.

Adrianne Finley Odell

Head of School, Moravian Academy

Purpose. Presence. Progress. The Foundations of Lifelong Excellence

2025-2026 All-School Theme

What if the arc of a student’s brilliance doesn’t begin with a college entry but in how they are seen, challenged, and held in schools like ours?

Before joining Moravian Academy, I spent more than a decade inside highly selective colleges and universities. Over the course of my tenure, I read more than 60,000 applications. Each one was a collection of transcripts, essays, recommendations, interviews, test scores, and dreams, woven into a story of potential and promise. I curated entire classes drawn from the best and brightest around the globe. I followed the full arc of each student’s journey, from the first lines of their college essay to the moment they crossed the graduation stage.

But my greatest learning didn’t come from a single file. It came from the patterns I saw: Purpose. Presence. Progress.

The students who thrived across difference and discipline had cultivated something more than credentials. They had learned how to direct their attention with intention. They encountered challenge and stayed curious. They carried a felt sense of why, woven from connection, commitment, and meaning.

For over 15 years, I bore witness to who succeeded in college—young people supported by systems designed to challenge, affirm, and elevate them. Now, I get to co-create the ecosystems where that preparation begins. I’m in the space where potential is cultivated early with the long view in mind.

That’s why I crossed to this side of the proverbial desk.

I came to Moravian Academy because I believe the seeds of lifelong flourishing aren’t planted in college. They’re planted far earlier. In kindergarten classrooms, in middle school advisories, in high school seminar rooms, in the everyday spaces where young people are asked not only to learn, but to matter. I came because I believe that schools like ours, which are intentional, relational, and deeply human, are the best places to nurture those seeds into something lasting.

That’s why this year’s all-school theme, Purpose. Presence. Progress. is not just a focus. It’s a provocation: a spotlight of the academic excellence, reflective teaching, and whole-child commitment that define who we are and have always been. It’s the throughline of every thriving student I’ve ever known.

Research and experience show us that the qualities defining thriving students extend far beyond test scores or resumes. The most successful learners, whether in kindergarten or college, cultivate:

Purpose that drives their efforts and connects them to meaningful goals and achievement.
Presence as the ability to focus attention with intention and stay curious, navigating a world where technology and AI offer new opportunities but also create distractions and disconnection.
Progress marked by sustained academic growth, resilience, reflection, and the adaptability needed to excel in an ever-changing world.

At Moravian Academy, we prepare students not just for college but for lives defined by thoughtful purpose, meaningful presence, and courageous progress. Because in today’s world, where education faces unprecedented pressures and rapid change, these are the qualities that matter more than ever.

It is no coincidence, then, that this year’s theme reflects the very qualities we aim to nurture in every learner and every classroom.

Purpose without presence is performance.
Presence without purpose is passivity.
Progress without both is accidental.

But when purpose, presence, and progress converge, when students align their why, their now, and their next—that is where true flourishing begins. So this year, I invite every member of our community to reflect and engage with these questions:

• How do we cultivate learning that is driven by purpose, not just performance?
• In a world filled with distractions, how can we practice true presence—both as learners and educators?
• What does real progress look like when success means flourishing—academically, socially, and ethically?

Let us be purposeful in our design, present in our relationships, and unafraid to progress toward what has not yet been imagined but will absolutely be realized by our students.

Yours in belonging and collective wellbeing,

Cristina K. Usino, MS, LPC, NCC, RYT200

Director of Belonging & Collective Wellbeing

Parent '30 and '32