For some students, the first day of school might feel like a slog.
For the kids at Bishop Brady, the trill of fifes and the rat-a-tat of a drum corp brought a revolutionary air to students’ march back into class Monday morning, the first day of school.
With the players — members of The Musick of Prescott’s Batallion — dressed in period coats, breeches and tri-corner hats and students in their plaid, Brady uniforms, the welcome was a kickoff for a year of colonial reflections, according to Principal Ben Horton.
A theme of “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” will weave throughout the school’s courses and celebrations this year, he said.
Bishop Brady student Julia McLaughlin gets ready to have her photo taken in front of the Fife and Drums of Early America group on the first day of school on Monday. The school is offering a year-long look at the America 250th anniversary. GEOFF FORESTER / For the Monitor 
Bishop Brady students stream into school as the Fife and Drums of Early America play on the first day of school on Monday. The school is offering a year-long look at the America 250th anniversary. GEOFF FORESTER / For the Monitor 
Bishop Brady student Julia McLaughlin gets ready to have her photo taken in front of the Fife and Drums of Early America group on the first day of school on Monday. The school is offering a year-long look at the America 250th anniversary. GEOFF FORESTER / For the Monitor
The school will honor this year’s semiquincentennial with special events, group reads and field trips. The group reads will include the Declaration of Independence and “Never Caught,” a nonfiction account of the story of Ona Judge, a woman who escaped slavery in President George Washington’s household and later settled in New Hampshire.
Field trips in line with the theme aren’t set yet, Horton said, but the shortlist includes potential visits to the Freedom Trail, Lexington and Concord, The Fort No. 4 in Charlestown and the Seacoast African American Culture Center.
There will be a colonial-style Christmas Feast and an examination of revolutionary-era poetry, too.
Horton, who is new to Brady this year, hopes to weave a theme through every school year, to be selected by juniors during the springtime for the following year.
