Rooted in Tradition, Growing Together: Norfolk Collegiate Celebrates the Installation of Jonathan Day Sr.

On Friday, Aug. 28, the Norfolk Collegiate community gathered for a historic occasion: the formal installation of Jonathan W. Day Sr. as head of school.

Students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, families and community leaders came together to celebrate this milestone, honoring the school's rich history while looking ahead to its next chapter.

The ceremony featured remarks from school leaders and students, each reflecting on the relationships, traditions and shared values that make Norfolk Collegiate special.

Speaking on behalf of the student body, Upper School Student Government Association President Joseph Mosby ’27 offered a warm—and humorous—welcome to Day, sharing some of the traditions and experiences that define life as an Oak, from cheering at athletic events and participating in clubs to Monday school meetings and Friday ice cream.

“We're all different people who come together to make one truly beautiful community,” Mosby shared.

Board of Trustees Chair Taylor Franklin ’00 then formally installed Day as Head of School, expressing the board's confidence in his leadership and commitment to building on Norfolk Collegiate's strong foundation.

In his installation address, Day reflected on the school's beginnings in 1944, when founders Kate Stallings Jennings and Margaret Grigg Moore opened the Carolton Oaks School in a converted bakery in Norfolk's Wards Corner neighborhood. Their vision of an education rooted in academic excellence, innovation and care for each individual continues to shape the school today.

Drawing on his background as an ecologist, Day used the oak tree—and the interconnected relationships within a forest—as a metaphor for the Collegiate community.

“A healthy forest is not simply a collection of individual trees. It is a community,” Day shared. “Its greatest strength is not found in any one organism, but in the countless relationships that bind them together.”

He connected that idea to the everyday experiences that define Norfolk Collegiate: lifelong friendships, teachers who recognize when students need encouragement, coaches who bring teams together and families who support one another.

“What truly distinguishes this school is not simply the excellence of its individuals. It is the quality of the relationships between them,” he said.

Looking ahead, Day shared his hope for every student, educator, family and graduate who becomes part of the Collegiate community.

“May every child who arrives here as an acorn discover the courage and confidence to become an oak,” he said.

The ceremony concluded with lower school students leading the community in singing the school alma mater, a fitting reminder of the generations of Oaks who have helped shape Norfolk Collegiate and those who will carry its traditions forward.

As Day begins his tenure, his message offers a meaningful vision for the future: a school where individuals are encouraged to grow, relationships are nurtured and the entire community flourishes together.

Relive the celebration! Explore photos, watch the installation ceremony and revisit this special moment in Norfolk Collegiate's history on our Jonathan Day Sr. Installation Ceremony page.