Marin Academy

Kiva Schweig '23 started the band KOI as a Marin Academy senior. It hasn't stopped since. 🎸

Music Teacher Chris Detrick placed him and his best friend Callum Brown '23 in a band together, and they'd already been writing music on their own. The summer after junior year, they recorded an entire album, "Dreams Come Now," produced, played, and promoted entirely by themselves. They even wrote the album title on the car they carpooled to school in. 🎶 🚗

Fellow MA creatives helped bring the vision to life: Ezra Trost-Goldhammer '24 shot their promotional photos and album cover at the Albany Bulb, and Harley Hibbitts '24 later organized a Bridge the Gap fundraiser at Sweetwater Music Hall, where Kiva met his future UCLA roommate and bandmate.

Now studying Cognitive Science at UCLA and leading a second band, The 529s, Kiva still books Bay Area shows every summer with KOI, including recent stops at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell and the Ashkenaz in Berkeley. And if you were a traveler at San Francisco International Airport today, you may have caught them playing a concert at SFO. Want to catch a future show? Follow KOI on instagram: https://www.instagram.com/musicbykoi

As Kiva puts it: having more on his plate has forced him to use his time carefully and become more intentional. Running a band made him better at communicating, organizing, and leading at work, and his academic and professional experiences have made him more thoughtful and structured about music. Each part of his life strengthens the others.

In his words:
"Marin Academy taught me how to work with people, ask questions, trust my ideas, and move between different interests without feeling that I had to choose only one. The music program did not just teach me how to play music. It taught me how to lead, collaborate, and turn an idea into something real."

Coffee, connection, and warm welcomes - our incoming Marin Academy families kicked off the year at the Parent and Guardian Welcome Reception with Head of School Travis Brownley, our Deans, and the MA Parents Association (MAPA). So glad you're here!

So, why the new look?

Our community wanted a logo that truly reflects where MA Athletics is today - bold, modern, and confident. Look closely and you’ll notice the signature triangles, inspired by our primary MA logo, and the notched ears, adding a sharp, battle-tested edge to our mascot.

From designer Leah Lavin:

"The highlight of the project was seeing how much Marin Academy values the voices of its students. Having student representatives in the kickoff meeting set the tone from the very beginning—it showed that this wasn't just about creating a new logo, but about creating a symbol of school pride that belonged to the entire community."

Our Inspirit AI summer program at Marin Academy wrapped up last Friday, and what an incredible two weeks it was!

Taught by Stanford and MIT alumni, this hands-on experience empowered students to build a solid foundation in Python while exploring AI ethics, generative models, and real-world applications.

From scanning images to identify cancer and detecting deepfakes to modeling financial data and sports analytics, our students successfully built and deployed their own AI projects. It was inspiring to see such exceptional creativity and vision come from this year's cohort.

Huge news from our alumni community! 🎓✨

Phoebe Thompson (formerly Kranefuss) ‘12 just published her debut novel, Girls Our Age—a story about three best friends navigating the promises and realities of their late twenties.
And in an amazing twist of fate, the audiobook is performed by fellow alum Charlotte Lobdell ‘13! 🎧

Huge congratulations to both Phoebe and Charlotte!

Grab your copy now:

👉 Amazon: https://amzn.to/4wz0Q9Z

👉 Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/241198675-girls-our-age

Big waves, campfire stories, and a tour of UC Santa Cruz. 🏄🏽🔥🏫

We have a record number of students joining us from our nonprofit and public school partners this year, and this trip is our favorite way to welcome them into the MA community.

Join us in celebrating Muriel Harris '27. Muriel was named a recipient of the prestigious Billie Jean King Youth Leadership Award for founding/leading Bump It Up San Rafael, a non-profit offering cost-free volleyball clinics to empower young female athletes.

She recently shared her journey during a live interview with ABC-7 news.

Click the link below for the full interview.

ABC 7 Interview Bump It Up San Rafael! Muriel Harris Interview with Muriel Harris Regional Winner of the Billie Jean Kin...