Mentors make the grade — and their peers do too

By Michelle Mercure

They won’t just have one buddy, they’ll have a tribe. From the classroom to the lunchroom to the playing field, these girls will be surrounded by peers who cheer them on.

– Jennifer Geary

At 150 years old, one private school is unwrapping a gift unlike any other — the Purcell Promise. The present isn’t a box decked out in ribbon and paper — it’s students, showing up in force to mentor and welcome the newest faces on campus.

In August of 2025, a small group of girls gathered at Goddard State Memorial Park to get to know one another before the school year began. This was the first official step in fulfilling the Purcell Promise — at least in terms of mentorship — though its origins stretch back further, to a lunch meeting in 2023.

Amy Gravell, the current president o