This Is Who We Are: The Class of 2026

In the season finale of In Conversation, host Andie Levinger sits down with six members of The Parkside School’s Class of 2026 — and then looks back on the whole season with Jessica Scovel.The season began with co-founders Leslie Thorne and Albina Miller describing the school they set out to build four decades ago: a community rooted in collaboration, creative problem-solving, and care for the whole child. It moved through the voices of teachers and a parent. And it ends, fittingly, with the graduates themselves.They talk about Parkside Singers and the cast of Matilda, about teaching themselves animation on YouTube and piano scales by ear. About the deep breaths that steady them, and the reading that once felt impossible and now doesn’t. They describe exactly what they’ll need from their next teachers — and how to ask for it. And they reflect, with real tenderness, on friendship, forgiveness, and second chances.Listening to them, Jessica kept a running list of words: positive, confident, creative, humorous, courageous, spiritual, forgiving, philosophical, self-aware, earnest, hopeful. As she puts it, this is who we are — and these remarkable young people are about to go out into the world and show it.