Choate Spirit Week Themes

Deerfield’s rivalry with Choate Rosemary Hall has fueled the Academy’s school spirit for over a century. Choate Week, the week leading up to the highly anticipated Choate Day, brings Deerfiel’s campus together, unifying the student body’s competitive spirit.

During Choate Week, Deerfield students are encouraged to dress up in respective themes to support the campus morale. Every day of the Week has its own theme, and students go all out with their outfits that fill campus with anticipation for Choate Day.

Choate Week’s themes have been established for many years and this year’s themes were mostly the same, with only one change made. Jarron Crosbie ’26, this year’s captain Deerfield, explained, “A lot of the themes are themes that have been happening for the past couple years.” He added, “I have a little book that … has a lot of the same themes … that were used in 2019. It’s kind of like a thing that we reuse a lot.”

Monday kicked off the week with the theme of rhyme without reason, a returning favorite that allows students to pair up and dress as two unrelated things that rhyme with each other. An example of one rhyme is lobster and boxer, which was used Tuesday continued with Twin Day, a long-standing theme that has been a part of Choate Week since 2019. On Twin Day, friends would coordinate their outfits to match each other’s, often seen wearing matching hoodies, pajamas, or T-shirts. While some students simply dress in similar clothing and imitate each other's hairstyles and accessories, Sabrina Schulhof ’29 and Stella Goldsmith ’29 dressed up as Oompa Loompas, painting their faces blue and wearing green wigs.

On Wednesday, students would dress up with their fall co-curriculars, giving them a medium to demonstrate the togetherness and spirit of their co-curriculars. Harmoni Dobbins ‘26, Cheerleader and Varsity Volleyball Captain, explained, “We try to make it something fun, so everyone can have a different character part in the costume.” Crosbie stated, “My favorite theme is always co-curric day… the stuff that I saw from the girls’ teams … were some of the best coordinated outfits that I've seen.” Whether the team is an undefeated varsity sport, at the thirds-level, or an arts program, every co-curricular buys into their specific team’s outfit. This year, Deerfield’s Varsity Volleyball Team received the best outfit award from the Deerfield Cheerleaders. Crosbie noted, “the funniest was definitely the volleyball team and their SpongeBob SquarePants outfits. Those were hilarious.” Dobbins went through the process that captains go through to decide their theme for Choate Week. “We try to make it something fun so everyone can have a different character or part in the costume,” she said. She claimed that providing a different costume for every team member promotes a sense of belonging, especially for new students.

Thursday’s theme brought a change to Choate Week. Traditionally, Thursday has been ‘Generations Day’, where each grade dressed as a different age group, ranging from babies to senior citizens. This year, the Deerfield Cheerleaders introduced a new theme: Pajama Day. Crosbie noted that “we decided to switch generation day with PJ day because we felt like sophomores/ juniors didn’t really do much as teenagers and adults.” Making this change provided the Academy's student body with an accessible way to dress up during Choate Week. Pajama Day was introduced with the hopes of increasing student's participation in the themes.

Friday wrapped up Choate week by returning to traditional class dress in the school colors of green and white. This Deerfield tradition has remained a staple for generations. The Choate Week theme of green and white class dress has traditionally served as a reminder that Choate Week is not purely about competition, but also about creating a unified student body. Choate Week is claimed to define Deerfield’s school spirit and instill motivation to beat their rival.