At your daughter or son’s first New Year’s Banquet—a September tradition well over a century old—she or he will begin to learn the The Banquet Song—sung at every important occasion of the year, as well as now and again before formal dinner. The final line stresses four words—honor, fairness, kindness and truth. It’s not long before she understands that these aren’t just letters strung together, but principles that shape and inform her schoolmates’ and teachers’ daily behavior. Ask students and faculty what they treasure most about living and learning at Thacher, and predictably, they talk with great pride about the positive relationships they have with each other—honest, sustaining and powerful connections made because these values are the air they breathe. Thacher students, as diverse and distinctive as they are, feel confident and comfortable being themselves and trying out new ideas, new perspectives, new activities: they trust in the support and encouragement they’ll get from peers and teachers. The “we-they” that often marks life in high school is distinctly absent at Thacher. In its place stand mutual respect, genuine caring for one another, and a sense of shared purpose.