More than 500 people attended Mayfield Senior School’s annual Mother- Daughter Mass and Brunch on May 7. This event more than doubled in size this year because it was the last all-community event celebrating Mayfield’s Head of School Kate Morin before her retirement. Morin has served as head of school for the last eight years — some of the most eventful years since the school’s founding. Under her tenure, Mayfield weathered the lockdowns of COVID-19, renovated and updated their gym and auditorium, undertook an award-winning capital campaign to fully revitalize their century-old main building, radically transformed their STEM offerings, reinforced their commitments to Justice, Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (JDEI), and more than doubled their endowment. Associate Head of School for Strategic Initiatives Angela Howell, a Mayfield alum from the Class of 1976, explained the impact Morin made: “She was absolutely, positively the right person, at the right time, in the history of the school.” The crowd of students, parents, alums, past and current board members, and those from the extended community tried not only to highlight Morin’s tangible accomplishments, but some of the intangible ones, too. The Mass was livestreamed as speakers lauded Morin for her legendary heart and visionary leadership. As a gift, members of the Parents Board delivered a personalized cookbook to Morin, which included dozens of treasured recipes from community members to take, as she moves back to her longtime home in Baltimore, Maryland. After the Mass, guests were treated to a catered brunch with opportunities for family portraits, and the event also included a 12 minute tribute video, giving voice to people who had been touched by Morin in her time at Mayfield, and detailing some of the initiatives that couldn’t have been possible without her. Those who knew Morin well remarked that in a time of so much upheaval, Morin had been a steady hand and “a second mother” to so many Mayfield students, and that this event was a fitting honor for the unique talents Morin brought to the school. Morin retires at the end of the school year in June, handing over the leadership reins to incoming Head of School Laura Farrell in July.
EVENT PHOTOS | Photos by Erin Rodick
