Chicago opens tonight at Brooks! Get your free tickets for the 7:30 p.m. show this evening, and on Friday or Saturday, via Eventbrite.
|
|
During Monday’s Chapel, students and employees will be remembering Preston Settles '25 on the one-year anniversary of his death. |
|
Thank you, families! We are grateful to all of our parents and guardians who have made a contribution to Brooks this year. With two weeks to go in our Brooks Together drive, we ask every family who is yet to make a gift or pledge to please consider doing so by our March 8 deadline.
Gifts can be made online and Director of the Brooks Fund and Family Engagement Mary Merrill and parent volunteers are reaching out and can help answer any questions you may have. We appreciate your support!
|
|
Building the Brooks Community
Brooks' admissions team is in the midst of selecting new students for the 2023-2024 school year from a pool of talented applicants. It is the time of year when the school invites parents to help us connect with newly accepted families. We would be thrilled to have you make calls to these families, congratulating them on their child's acceptance and answering questions, in addition to encouraging them to attend Brooks. The call period is March 13-24.
If you are interested in making calls, please click to volunteer.
|
|
Boys 1st basketball hosted local Special Olympics basketball teams for a tournament on Sunday in Brooks' athletic center. |
|
Spring Break Planning
The school will close for Spring Break on March 8 (with a special academic schedule, classes finish at 11 a.m.) and reopen on March 27 at 12 p.m. See our planning details around school breaks. All boarding students must complete departure and return plans using REACH.
The school provides vans to Logan Airport and a bus to NYC/CT on March 8. There is also a return bus from NYC/CT on March 27. Students may sign up for these transportation options through their leave request in REACH.
|
|
Beloved Community Day: March 31
Our first Brooks Beloved Community Day — an annual day when the school comes together to reflect on, and demonstrate, how the Brooks community embodies Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s vision of a beloved community and how that community contributes to the continued fight for social justice — will take place on March 31.
Our theme this year is "Journeying Sankof to Ubuntu through the Arts." The DEIB department will partner with the Arts Department to create a day of belonging for the Brooks community and will feature two guest speakers: Shelby Myerhoff and Dr. Pascale Losambe.
|
|
Weekend Bulletin
In addition to the school musical this weekend, there are trips (ski/snowboarding!) and lots of fun activities planned. Check out the Weekend Bulletin for all details.
|
|
New Deans' Den Blogs
Before Dean Waters stopped in at the Special Olympics event on Sunday, she visited a physics class and saw some experiments in action. Read about her latest campus sneak peeks!
|
|
Faculty Feature: Associate Director of College Counseling Brenna Kelly
Brooks School's Associate Director of College Counseling Brenna Kelly is a dedicated NEACAC (New England Association for College Admission Counseling) member. Within this organization, she is currently a Summer Institute (SI) faculty member where she is serving a three-year term as a presenter and mentor leader — a faculty role for which she was chosen in 2022.
Kelly (in photo below, front row third from left) and other SI faculty members help lead small mentor group discussions; program-specific curriculum tracks for the participants who are new secondary school counselors and admissions counselors; and create workshops and group presentations, in which participants will learn about job responsibilities and communication in the admission/counseling process.
In addition to SI again this summer, she is also presenting with college admission counselors at NEACAC's 2023 Annual Meeting and Conference in May. As chair of the AMC Session Proposal Committee for the IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Education and Access) she will be presenting on behalf of her student support in financial aid in the college counseling process, with a focus on support of BIPOC students. Kelly will also be presenting with her SI colleagues about her experience as a faculty member at Summer Institute.
|
|
Exchange Students Depart Soon!
Congratulations to the following students (shown below) who will represent Brooks School abroad this school year as part of our Exchange program:
- Arshia Sharma '24 and Owen Bedrosian '23 will travel with current exchange students, Charlotte Fraser and Griff Mann back to Glenalmond College, Perth, Scotland on Feb. 26 for their exchange.
- Laura Kahu '23 and Kat Thompson '24 will attend the American School of Tangier in Tangier, Morocco on Feb. 27.
- Philip Mwangi '24, Sarah Benjavitvilai '23 and Melanie Kaplan '23 will reunite with our fall exchange students from Deak Ferenc School in Szeged, Hungary on Feb. 27.
- Abbie Duckworth '23 and Mollet Otieno '23 head to Maru-a-Pula School in Gaborone, Botswana on Feb. 27.
- Kiara Mejia '24 will join our current exchange students, Jarko Gil and Aitana Martinez in Peru in early June.
Questions about Exchange? Please contact Director of Exchange Programs Lisa Saunders.
|
|
Class of 2024: Registering for SAT/ACTs
It's not too soon to register for upcoming SAT and/or ACT tests. Most students in the class of 2024 should register for one or more of these tests. The next SAT is on March 11. Brooks is NOT a test site for the March SAT.
Brooks is an unlisted test center for the ACT on April 15 and the SAT on May 6 and June 4. Because only Brooks students may take the test at Brooks, you may not see Brooks pop up as an option on the registration page.
You need to enter the test center code into the search bar. Only Brooks students can register to take the tests at Brooks.
- The test center code for the ACT is: 224020
- The test center code for the SAT is: 22584
|
|
Special appearance! Gospel choir sang at St. Paul's Church in North Andover on Sunday. |
|
Do You Have Your Tickets for Chicago?
Don't miss your chance to see Brooks Firetrail Theatre in action! This incredible group of student performers and technicians have pulled out all the stops to bring to life the iconic musical Chicago tonight and on Feb. 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. Free tickets are still available.
- All are welcome to join us for a reception immediately following the Saturday performance.
-
Want to learn more about the show? Check out the educational packet that the production team created for faculty and students!
-
See an album of photos from the dress rehearsal, as well as cast posters and headshots taken by Jalyn Colon '24 on brooksschoolphotos.com.
|
|
Congrats to boys 1st basketball's Marcos Montiel '23 on scoring his 1,000th point yesterday! |
|
Schedule for Final Weeks of Winter Season
- Feb. 24-26 - Boys and girls squash teams will compete in the U.S. High School Squash Championships in Philadelphia.
- Feb. 25 - The last day of the regular winter season.
- March 1 - NEPSAC tournaments in basketball and ice hockey (for teams that qualify) begin with first-round games.
We will have more specific information as we get closer to the end of the season as far as which teams are playing in the tournaments.
Please note: All lockers must be emptied, and uniforms returned, before Spring Break.
|
|
Gear Orders Due, Planning for Spring Activities
Spring activities are around the corner and it's time for students to confirm their spring activities. If a student is not sure what they signed up for, they can check with Director of Athletics Bobbie Crump Burbank.
Online ordering is available now for spring sports. The deadline for orders is today, Feb. 23.
|
|
Welcome Our New Nurses
We've been privileged to add some wonderful new faces to our Health Center team this school year. Read below to learn more about their backgrounds and why they chose Brooks. They're all eager to get to know members of our community:
Jacky Nolan (below on left): Nolan started with us in the fall as a per-diem (or substitute) nurse. She is also currently working as a nurse at Mass General Hospital. Prior to becoming a nurse, she was an athletic trainer and actually spent some time training right here at Brooks! She chose to be a nurse because she loves helping others and she especially likes working at Brooks because of the sense of community. When she's not working, she enjoys running, cooking and baking at her home in Stoneham, Mass.
Kisha Bell (below in middle): Bell also started with us in the fall covering night and weekend shifts. You can find her at Brooks mainly on Friday nights and Saturday days. Bell is a Master's prepared nurse with more than 18 years of clinical experience, many of which have been with adolescents. Originally from Alabama, she attended the University of Alabama Birmingham where she was a member of the ROTC and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority while getting her undergraduate nursing degree. Bell finds nursing to be highly rewarding and has loved learning to care for students at Brooks on what she calls "a tranquil, beautiful campus."
Hicham Lasfar (below on right): Lasfar started at the Health & Wellness Center this earlier month and will be working Monday and Thursday overnights, as well as Sundays. He is originally from Morocco where he trained and worked as an educator for several years. After living in Morocco, Lasfar spent time in France and Germany prior to moving to the United States in 2013 to pursue a career in nursing. He finds nursing challenging and rewarding and is particularly appreciative to work on such a beautiful campus with a kind-hearted community. His hobbies include soccer, swimming and traveling. Lasfar has impressed us with his mastery of four languages.
|
|
International Family Zooms with John Packard
Prior to Spring Break, Head of School John Packard will be hosting two Zooms. Translation will be available for both:
If you have any questions, please contact Director of the Brooks Fund and Family Engagement Mary Merrill.
|
|
Grandparents & Special Friends Day: Address Request
In the coming weeks, we will be sending invitations to grandparents and special friends for our April 29 event. If you have already shared grandparent and special friend address and email information with the Advancement Office, those guests will receive an invite. If you have not shared this information, please forward it to Director of the Brooks Fund and Family Engagement Mary Merrill.
|
|
School Calendar 2023-2024
|
|
Upcoming Events
- May 14: Prom for the classes of 2023 and 2024. More information to come.
|
|
Stay in touch: Follow Brooks for news + photos! |
Not on social media? Visit the Brooks Social page to see what we've shared!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
