BEST FRIENDS FOREVER BEST FRIENDS FOREVER
Maddie Peek ‘12 & Taylor Tippet-Ames ‘12 Maddie Peek ‘12 & Taylor Tippet-Ames ‘12
“Madeline Peek, also known as my ‘first friend in Florida’, and I met through an arranged playdate the summer before I entered 2nd grade at Carrollwood Day School I had just moved to Tampa from Missouri. Administration found out that we had moved to the same neighborhood as the Peek family and contacted the Peeks about this new student who was going to be in Maddie’s class. The rest is history!
Maddie and I remained close friends throughout our time at CDS from elementary school through high school. Even through the tumultuous middle school and high school years, Maddie was always a friend I could count on. After we graduated CDS, Maddie went away to college in Texas and then moved to New York City. I stayed in Florida for college and then moved to Washington, DC for graduate school. Even though we had moved apart, we always stayed in contact. I had even taken a trip to NYC to visit her while I lived in DC
Fast forward to 2024, Maddie was a bridesmaid in my wedding, and I now have the honor of being a bridesmaid in her wedding this fall! We also both have found our ways back to where it all began and live in Tampa. I will be forever grateful to CDS for jumpstarting one of my longest friendships and for making sure the ‘ new girl’ in second grade had a friend from day one ” - Taylor
Kayla (Diaz) Paulino ‘14 & Christina Polanco '14 Kayla (Diaz) ‘14 & Christina Polanco '14
“Christina and I met in homeroom our sophomore year. She was new to the group as she had just joined CDS, and we instantly bonded over our similar cultural backgrounds.
We have been inseparable ever since then and still make it a priority to stay in touch despite living in different states and constantly traveling together. She was also a bridesmaid at my wedding recently in May 2024.
Over the last couple of years we have travelled to Los Angeles, Spain, and Italy together; and have an upcoming trip to Japan in October.” - Kayla
Class of 2o16: Casey Brynjolfsson, Chrissy Brynjolfsson, Alex McMurray,
Class 2o16: Casey Brynjolfsson, Chrissy Brynjolfsson, Alex McMurray,
Carli
Carli (Gauthier)
Mianne, Kylie Saigol, & Stevie Schweitzer
(Gauthier) & Stevie Schweitzer of
“Having started at CDS in 2001, I have known these girls for our entire time together at school. I even knew Carli before she came to CDS because our moms were friends in college! Chrissy, Casey, and Stevie are CDS-lifers with me Carli joined the party later, in 3rd grade, and Alex joined in 7th grade.
Although we had always been friends individually, our group truly came together as a squad in high school. We bonded through Outreach360 service trips to Nicaragua, our involvement in student government, the student athletic board, and dance committee, and most especially through sports.
We all played volleyball together throughout middle and high school, and thanks to Carli’s convincing (and a little peer pressure), we also joined the soccer team. Fittingly, Carli now coaches that very team at CDS
Some of my favorite memories are from Friday night football games. Chrissy, Casey, Stevie, and I were water girls on the sidelines. Carli was the kicker on the team, and Alex was the captain of the cheerleading squad. This allowed us to spend time together every Friday night.
Throughout college, living across the country from each other, moving to different cities, we’ve all remained extremely close We have the best memories and endless stories and are never not laughing when together
Although we try to visit each other in our cities as often as we can, we don’t get enough physical time together. The best thing we’ve done is started recording a weekly video message for the group. Each Wednesday, we each send a two to three minute update about our weeks and what we’ve been up to in order to keep each other up to date with our lives
No matter where in the world life takes us, we will always remember our roots. CDS gave us the foundation we have to thank for a lifelong, unconditional friendship” - Kylie
Mari Acuña ‘18 & Imari Earley ‘18 Mari Acuña ‘18 & Imari Earley ‘18
“We met in 2014 through our brothers, Elias Earley and Carlos Acuna, who are also CDS alumni. At first it was a little awkward of course but once we broke the ice, we’ve been a dynamic duo ever since. We became best friends in high school and have experienced so much together as time goes by. After graduation (2018), we stayed in touch but grew apart due to distance. In 2020 we rekindled and picked up right where we left off. Our friendship grew more and more and we became roommates in 2023 til 2025! This season was by far the best. There is nothing like coming home after a long day and seeing your best friend.
Mari was even present when Imari got engaged - which made it even better! Imari is getting married next February and Mari will be by her side through it all as a bridesmaid! From strangers, to best friends, to roommates, to matching tattoos, and now we are practically sisters. Our friendship is definitely the best thing to come out of our time at CDS and we are forever grateful for it.” - Imari
Class of 2o17: Brooke Bennett, Claire Dosher, Carolina Rojas, & Leah Vicencio Class of 2o17: Brooke Bennett, Claire Dosher, Carolina Rojas, & Leah Vicencio
“There are four of us, and our friendship goes back to our days at CDS. We all met there, though the last one joined in 2nd grade, so none of us really remembers the exact moment she became part of the group. Over the years, we’ve stayed connected through school, college, and now into our careers. These days, we keep in touch regularly and make a point of planning girls’ trips whenever we can. We’re already in the middle of brainstorming ideas for the next one.” - Claire
of of
th Class of 2o2O: Josh Abrams (8 grade ‘16), Andrew
Alvarez, Hallenbeck, Dominic Smith, Alex Tripp, Daniel
Class of 2o2O: Josh Abrams (8 grade ‘16), Andrew Alvarez, Ryan Anstett, Gunnar Brynjolfsson, Jay Garvey, Nick Hallenbeck, Dominic Smith, Alex Tripp,
& Daniel Vassallo
“Our friend group originated back in 2007 when a couple of us first came to CDS. Over the years, as new people came into CDS, we began to pick up strays and the friend group continued to grow into what it is now. Even tho very few of us actually graduated from CDS, and we dispersed a little bit through college, we have always remained best of friends and are now all graduated and living all around the state of Florida. Our group loves to travel together, in particular, taking ski trips in the winter and tropical trips during the summer. When we ’ re all home, we get together just about every week to watch sports, hit the lake day for some tubing and wakeboarding, or taking day trips out to the beach” - Danny
Hannah Goldman ‘21, Aidan Gonzalez ‘21, & Ava Rosen ‘21
Hannah Goldman Aidan Gonzalez & Ava Rosen
“Ava Rosen and I met back in 2017 in our 9th grade biology class, where we immediately clicked! I was lucky enough to have science with her 3 out of our 4 years of high school Our science teacher (Mrs. Hall) knew to place us next to each other because we just always worked well together and encouraged each other to do our best. Even though we went to differen colleges, we've continued to stay close and made sure t see each other when we could! Now that we have both graduated college, we spend our time catching up getting sushi, coffee, pool days and more! She's always been someone I can laugh with and count on no matte what to always understand my jokes and thoughts! She's a great best friend and meeting her at 14 was such a blessing!
Hannah Goldman and I met had just moved to Florida f nervous about being the new luck, Hannah was also one o same school! We were instan new girls and I couldn't be m l n
Angelina Bernard ‘22 & George Henry Cann-Gudat ‘23 Angelina Bernard ‘22 & George Henry Cann-Gudat ‘23
“George and I met while working on the spring 2022 school production of Matilda He was on the stage crew while I was working in hair and makeup We saw each other often, but our respective roles kept us busy. It wasn't until the opening week that George finally got the courage to compliment my hair backstage. I told him I loved his curls, and from there we began speaking while the actors ran around on stage, often when we weren't supposed to Soon enough, George would be picking me up for a mall day or brunch with the Stanleys as we spent my last summer before college together
When George graduated the following year and went to study abroad at the American University of Paris, I worried that our friendship would fizzle out, but instead, we found time between our busy schedules and time zone differences to FaceTime and text as much as we could. He even left Paris early to surprise me in Orlando for my 20th birthday. With George now in Washington, D.C, keeping in contact has been much easier, and I plan to visit him there in a few weeks once the new semester settles down.
George has truly been there for me in every aspect of my life since we met. Through distance and difficulty, he was there. When my father passed away in June, he was the first one I saw at the hospital He didn't have to be there, but he chose to, and that's the incredible thing about George. Whether he knew it or not, George changed my life for the better when he complimented my hair backstage, and I am very glad that I complimented his back.” - Angelina