You never know quite what to expect when you walk into Assembly at Nobles. Will it be a first-time performer who raises the roof with a song? A world-class speaker and activist like Harvard Law School’s Charles J. Ogletree who has come to share his wisdom about justice with the Nobles community?
Will today bring a silly skit to announce that the school newspaper, The Nobleman, has arrived from the printer? Will it resound with cheers for a big win against an Independent School League rival? Will the musical performance be Haydn or hip-hop, Ke$ha or “Carmina Burana?” Will you be watching a scene from the fall Mainstage play or hearing from a faculty member about his life as a man of color in the independent school world?
The beauty of Assembly is that while you can never be sure what will happen there, you can be sure that it always will be interesting—and often inspiring.
A beloved tradition at Nobles for decades, Assembly happens four mornings each week throughout the school year—including on Graduation morning. Every other Wednesday morning brings a 65-minute Long Assembly when special guests are invited to perform.
The whole community, from the seventh graders (known in Nobles parlance as “Sixies” because they are members of Class VI) to the seniors (Class I), gathers in Lawrence Auditorium promptly at 8 a.m., joined by the administration, faculty and staff. Assembly is one of the few experiences that every single person in the community shares—and it is something that every Nobles graduate remembers.
Assembly is central to the Nobles experience, whether it makes you laugh or moves you to tears. “We’re taking what is prime teaching time, in an environment with high expectations and demands, and carving out roughly two and a half hours per week for Assembly,” says Head of School Robert P. Henderson Jr. ’76. “The decision to bring the community together for a shared experience is critical in order to create teaching time of a different sort.”