WEB EXCLUSIVE Convent & Stuart Hall students gathered at Paradise Beach County Park in Tiburon today to celebrate Congé, a tradition of the Sacred Heart where students get a surprise day off from school and celebrate together.

“I expected it was Congé so I ended up wearing sweatpants to school and I did not bring any school supplies with me,”  junior Colette Hom said. “The first things I saw [at the beach] were the bouncy houses and I got really excited so I ran straight to those.”

The event included bouncy houses, a beach for swimming and grass fields for sports activities.

“I liked hanging out with my friends at the beach, and a lot of people swam but the water looked very cold,” junior Miley Sherman said. “I also loved going through the obstacle courses and having a ball with friends.”

There were more rumors and suspense around which day would be Congé this year than other years according to Sherman.

“I loved the feeling when I was walking to campus today because I could feel like something really big was going to happen,”, Academic Support Coordinator Jen Kramer said. “At the beach, my favorite part was watching the swimmers, and I could not believe that they stayed in so long.”

This year was the fourth year that Congé was coed. Last year students, spent the day engaging in sports activities at the Bladium Stadium in Alameda and two years ago they bowled and played other field games in the Presidio in San Francisco.

“The highlight of my day was when I made it over the wipeout bouncy house,” Hom said.  “I think it was the best Congé I have had so far because I felt that there were more activities to accommodate everyone.”