Flint Hill’s Time Capsule Tradition

In the fall of 1990, when the School reorganized as Flint Hill School, there was a dedication of the new campus in the Dell, where the Junior Kindergarten playground is now. Former Headmaster Tom Whitworth thought this celebration would be the perfect occasion to bury a time capsule as a part of the ceremony. Students and faculty gathered and buried a container of artifacts that represented the year. 

Fast forward to 2015 and the 25-year-old time capsule was all but forgotten. That year, the 4^th graders happened to be researching Flint Hill’s history and came across an article in the Upper School student newspaper, “The View,” from October 26, 1990, which referenced the time capsule. The students were so excited about the possibility of seeing what was inside that they wrote a letter to Headmaster Emeritus John Thomas asking if they could dig it up. “Great idea!” John replied. 

With no record of the capsule’s exact location, John sent emails on behalf of the 4^th graders to Tom Whitworth, former Director of the Upper School Hank Berg, and former Director of Development Herb Soles for help pinpointing where to dig, but nobody could quite remember just where the container had been buried. The School even used a long pole to systematically poke into the ground throughout the Dell. Alas, the mission to find the buried treasure was put on hold.

The following summer, in 2016, construction crews making improvements to the Miller House patio found the long-lost capsule! What they unearthed was a severely weathered and water-logged container. Most of the items inside were mud-stained and almost entirely destroyed. It was a lesson in the importance of careful preservation — one Flint Hill has definitely learned.

By the late 90s, 4^th graders had begun their own tradition of gathering keepsakes from their 4^th grade year and preserving them in a vessel to be opened their senior year, during Commencement week. It’s a tradition that continues to this day. 

This year, Director of Alumni Relations Maria Taylor stopped by the 4^th grade classrooms to share the story of the 1990 time capsule and to help the students appreciate Flint Hill’s legacy of preserving memories. She shared some of the items that survived from the 1990 capsule, including a tattered graduation gown, a muddy VHS tape, and a small plastic square with metal shapes on it that one student surmised must have been some sort of old school “ID badge.”… It was a floppy disk.

As the Class of 2024 prepared to graduate this year, students who attended Flint Hill in 4^th grade gathered back at the Lower School, the day before their Commencement ceremony, to open the time capsules they’d stowed away eight years prior. Lower School faculty who taught this class joined them, including former teachers Rob Taylor and Dorothy Lear Mooney ’74. The seniors opened their capsules and found memorabilia from their iconic Williamsburg trip and from their Shakespeare unit and performance. They also found lists of written memories, such as what their favorite food was in 4^th grade, who they sat next to, and what their favorite subject was. Some seniors had also included a stuffed animal or their favorite book from that year. This walk down memory lane, just 24 hours before graduation, was an emotional and nostalgic way to cap off their time at Flint Hill. 

Thanks to John Thomas, those students have another time capsule opening to look forward to. John began the tradition of each senior class creating a time capsule to be opened at their 10-year Reunion. Many of the time capsules include things such as performance programs, championship t-shirts, prom polaroids, school IDs, and letters to their future selves. 

In 2016, the Class of 2006 was the first Reunion class to open their time capsules, and the tradition has remained one of the most sentimental moments of Reunion Weekend ever since. Sitting in the Upper School Commons, where many of these memories were made, alumni open their time capsules and remember what was important to their 18-year-old selves. Some alumni proclaim that they remember exactly what they put in their time capsule, whereas other alumni can’t even recall if they made one. As pictures, trinkets, and keepsakes emerge from their time capsule envelopes, old stories are retold and alumni are transported back in time. 

In 2021, the Class of 2011 opened their senior year mementos virtually on Zoom. The Alumni Office mailed members of the class their individual time capsules, and they opened them together. Since Woojin Kim ’11 was teaching at Flint Hill at the time, he had the honor of attending in person, alongside John and Maria, during the virtual time capsule opening in the Upper School Commons. That year, Ryan Barbalace ’11 opened his time capsule to find his long-lost track shoes, and Jennifer Toth ’11 found one of the toe shoes she wore as she danced the part of Clara in “The Nutcracker” her senior year. 

John Thomas would often caution seniors against including photos of high school sweethearts in their time capsules because they may be opening these envelopes in front of their future spouse or partner. Two alums from recent time capsule openings scoffed at that advice and included photos of their beloved high school sweethearts; lucky for them, the partners standing next to them as they pulled out the photos were the sweethearts pictured.

Over the past few years, the Alumni Office has asked the 10-year Reunion class to record a message for the current seniors. Their advice is always: 1.) Do a time capsule. You will regret it if you don’t. 2.) Don’t put money in your time capsule. Inflation is not on your side.