Portrait of a Graduate

In the fall of 2021, Newburyport Public Schools began a process to create a shared vision. We call this vision our Portrait of a Graduate. Over the course of the 2021-22 school year, over 800 students, teachers, parents and community members participated in a process to identify the skills, knowledge and mindsets our graduates would need to be successful. 

The community shared hundreds of comments and ideas and together, we built a vision to guide our decision making and inspire our strategic planning. Today, the Portrait of a Graduate provides a vision that guides our decision making and inspires our innovation.

I am prepared for life after graduation.

We have charted the course
Marking our path forward by the constellations
Guiding us
to the star that shines the brightest.
Guest speakers and interviews,
career days and college fairs, 
invite us to explore what we could someday be. 

Then, in higher grades, we build pathways of experience
Just as the sandpipers skitter across Plum Island,
dodging the crash of the waves upon shore
We challenge ourselves through harder courses, 
and we navigate the ocean’s swell on swift wings
As we see things from above,
we look beyond a bad grade, or inevitable mistake,
and embodied the resilient flow of the ocean. 

These schools shall always be our anchor. 
Our classrooms are our compass,
guiding each of us to our unique ports.
As collaborators, innovators, leaders, and citizens,
We hope to bring a sense of pride 
to those who helped to steer our lives
towards a world we claim to be our own.

Zoe Kakuba (2024) and Sophie lafranchise (2025)
Original Poem "Portrait of a Grad"