At Berkeley Hall School, eighth grade comes with a glue gun, a motto, and a mission: build a shield that shouts, “This is who we are!” Since 1944, every graduating class has taken on this rite of passage, designing, building, and unveiling its own Class Shield as part of the school’s Shield Elective. It’s part art project, part engineering feat, and entirely a Berkeley Hall tradition.
In This Guide
Quick Answer for Busy Parents
Berkeley Hall’s Class Shield is a decades-old tradition in which each graduating eighth-grade class designs and builds its own coat of arms and motto through the school’s Shield Elective. Since 1944, every finished shield has been unveiled at the Shield Dance and Shield Reveal Assembly, then permanently displayed alongside generations of predecessors in Hodges Theater at the Uhlman Performing Arts Center.
How the Class Shield Tradition Began
The tradition traces back to a single, personal gesture: according to Berkeley Hall’s own history, the Class Shield began when a student named Francesca Leland, inspired by her love for the school and her ninth-grade teacher, Mrs. Cutler, crafted a handmade shield as a farewell gift. Eighty years later, that one gesture has grown into a schoolwide rite of passage that every graduating class carries forward.
Inside the Shield Elective: How Eighth Graders Build Their Shield
Choosing a Class Motto
Each class starts by settling on a motto that captures its shared identity, something distinctive enough to define a graduating year for good. From there, the real work begins.
Design and Fabrication
Armed with 3D design software, band and scroll saws, and laser cutters, students turn their motto and ideas into a physical coat of arms, tools also used in the school’s Innovation Lab. It’s a genuine blend of art and engineering, with enough trial and error along the way to teach patience as well as craftsmanship.
Teamwork and Leadership
Building a Class Shield is a team effort, not an individual project. Students have to pitch ideas, merge different visions, and make group decisions, skills that carry well beyond the workshop. By the time the shield is finished, most classes have worked through real disagreements about design and direction, not just divided up tasks.
The Shield Dance and Shield Reveal Assembly
Once the shield is finished, it’s unveiled in two stages. First, at the Shield Dance, an evening event for eighth-grade families, and then to the entire school community at the Shield Reveal Assembly. Both moments are genuine milestones for the graduating class, marking the end of their time at Berkeley Hall with something they built themselves.
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Where the Shields Live On
Every finished shield takes its place on the walls of Hodges Theater at the Uhlman Performing Arts Center, joining decades of others dating back to 1944. Younger students walk past that growing gallery every year, wondering what their own class shield will look like, which is precisely the point.
Why the Tradition Still Matters
The Class Shield isn’t a standalone art project bolted onto graduation. It’s a direct expression of the values Berkeley Hall builds its curriculum around: respect, responsibility, honesty, and compassion. Choosing a motto forces a class to agree on what actually matters to them; building the shield together forces real collaboration and compromise; and standing in front of the whole school to reveal it is genuine public presentation experience, years before a college application essay or a high school interview. Families touring Berkeley Hall often notice the shields on the Hodges Theater walls before they hear the full story behind them, one of the clearest physical signs of how long the school’s culture of character education has actually been in practice.
| Detail | Value |
| Tradition Began | 1944 |
| Elective Name | Shield Elective (8th Grade) |
| Unveiling Events | Shield Dance (families) → Shield Reveal Assembly (whole school) |
| Permanent Display | Hodges Theater, Uhlman Performing Arts Center |
| Skills Built | 3D design, woodworking, teamwork, public presentation |
Getting the Most Out of Berkeley Hall’s Eighth Grade Year
The Class Shield is a good proxy for what Berkeley Hall’s eighth grade year is actually building toward: a student who can commit to a shared decision, present it publicly, and leave something behind that outlasts the school year. Families evaluating Berkeley Hall for a graduating eighth grader shouldn’t just weigh this tradition on its own. It’s worth understanding how the school’s whole final year, from the Shield Elective to high school placement support, sets a child up for the transition ahead.
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Preparing for Berkeley Hall’s Eighth Grade Year?
Cardinal Education helps families plan for Berkeley Hall’s high school placement process well before the Shield Elective and graduation arrive.