On the first day of the 2025–26 school year, the Sunrise School of Miami community gathered in the Rock Garden for one of our most cherished traditions—the Rose Ceremony.
This beautiful annual event marks a profound moment of transition: the crossing from early childhood into the grade school years. It is a time when our entire community—faculty, students, and families, both new and returning—comes together to celebrate growth, continuity, and connection.
As music filled the garden, performed by Melissa Adames, Liliana Colón, and Orlando Colón, the rising first grade children passed beneath rainbow silks and crossed the wooden bridge. This gesture symbolizes moving from one stage of life to the next, carrying with them the innocence of childhood while stepping toward new challenges and discoveries. On the other side, they were welcomed with a rose by an eighth-grade student—a living symbol of beauty, strength, and unfolding potential. Finally, each child was greeted by their new teacher, Kaitlyn Lugo, who will guide them in this next chapter of their learning journey.
The Rose Ceremony is not only a rite of passage for our first graders but also a way of welcoming all new families into our community and reuniting with those returning. It reminds us that education is a shared path, built on relationships that connect past, present, and future, younger and older, child and parent, teacher and student.
After the ceremony, families, faculty, and friends gathered for a joyful breakfast organized by our second-grade parents—an opportunity to reconnect, share stories, and step into the year ahead together.
The Rose Ceremony is more than a tradition; it is a reflection of our belief that every child’s growth is supported and celebrated within the fabric of community life.