August 17, 2022

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I hope the past month has been a good one for all of you and there is still a bit of summer fun in store before your children return to school over Labor Day weekend. We have had a busy summer here on campus and are now in the process of finishing up our summer work and preparations for the year -- Brooks School’s 96th school year. While the pandemic does linger in annoying ways, it is exciting to be returning to school with complete confidence that our whole program will run without incident after the ups and downs that have characterized the past 30 months.

With what follows, I hope to add some thought and value to the steady stream of communications you and your children are receiving from various corners of the school. Above all, our hope is that you reach out to us if anything is unclear or in need of further explanation. We want to do all we can to ensure the year gets off to a great start for your child.

As we move into the second half of August, all of our new faculty members are settling in and getting ready to join returning faculty members for a series of opening meetings that begin next week and run all the way to Thursday, September 1 -- the day before students begin arriving. The talent, energy, and fresh perspective each of them will bring to the school is certain to add to all that our returning faculty members will also bring into a new year. It is exciting to be on the verge of starting anew with such a terrific group of people.

Along a similar line, our board of trustees gathered on campus in early August under new leadership with John Barker ’87, P’21, P’23 beginning his tenure as president. After having very little opportunity to be in person since the pandemic began, it was a lot of fun to welcome some trustees to campus for the first time in nearly three years. In addition to getting reacquainted, we spent a lot of time thinking about the strategic direction of the school and what might be next for Brooks with our centennial year just four years away. As you know, we have had a full slate of campus projects moving along for some time now, and are poised to accomplish a lot in 2022-2023. To think beyond what we are currently working on and what we would like to achieve as the school moves into its second century is our hope. We will look forward to sharing that thinking as it evolves through the year.

In terms of campus projects that are nearing completion or about to begin, here is where we are with all of them:

Center of Campus - The admission and head of school office building is up and running with all who were headed that way now settling in. There is still work to do around the building and in bringing the interior of the building to life with Brooks School flair, but it has been exciting to move in. We have also made a lot of progress with Main Street and the landscaping up and down the spine of the campus. We will be nearly done by the time students arrive. Finally, I am very much looking forward to moving back into the head of school’s residence in mid-September and to using the space for a range of school events moving forward.

Wilder Dining Hall and Keating Room - We continue to make progress on our expansion of these spaces in ways that will increase and enhance seating indoors and on a larger patio outdoors. The new vestibule and entrance to the main dining hall will be up and running when students arrive. The Keating Room work should be complete by early October. It is coming along!

Athletic Center - At this point, the renovated gym floor and work on that entire space is complete. We are keeping everyone off the floor until school opens in order to ensure the surface cures effectively. The new stands that will nearly triple our seating capacity will be delivered later in the fall -- in time for basketball season this winter. McVeigh Court is on its way to being fully operational!

Tennis Viewing Area - This work is beginning within the week and will continue into the fall. As I noted one month ago, this will improve the player and spectator experience for tennis matches and complete work aimed at improving the arrival sequence for prospective families parking in that area.

Boathouse - This project is now underway and moving in the direction of being ready for the spring. This facility will substantially improve the ability of this large program to meet all of its needs and improve an especially beautiful part of our campus.

Faculty Housing - While most of the construction of three new faculty homes will take place in the spring, we have started preparing the work site by removing some trees and clearing the area. We are looking forward to opening this lakefront part of our campus to the community over the course of the year.

Finally, there are additional campus projects we are considering for the school year and will certainly share our progress on any and all that gain some traction as the year begins. We are excited to be positioned to continue working on the campus in ways that improve the experience for the community -- and to be nearly done with most of the work in the middle of campus!

In terms of COVID-19 protocols, the good news is that we have not felt any reason to change course over the past month and are looking forward to a smooth start to the school year. While our Health and Wellness Center will continue to be the primary point of contact for all questions having to do with COVID-19 vaccination and testing, I do want to touch on the following:

COVID-19 Vaccination - There has been no change in our expectations concerning COVID-19 vaccines. To reiterate, we are expecting that all community members will have received one booster beyond the initial COVID-19 vaccine regimen we required prior to the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year. We will be in touch if and when we update our vaccine requirement during the year as subsequent vaccine doses are developed. If you have any questions about your child’s status, please be in touch with the Health and Wellness Center directly.

COVID-19 Testing - We will not be requiring a COVID-19 test prior to or upon reentry to school. We will be administering rapid antigen tests to any community member presenting with symptoms and will be testing some community members periodically.

Mask Protocols - We are planning to begin the year in a mask-optional mode in all school buildings with two exceptions: First, we will begin the year with the expectation that anyone in the Health and Wellness Center should wear a mask. Second, there may be circumstances in some classrooms and dormitories that require masking routinely or periodically, and we will expect compliance in those cases. Finally, a lesson learned through the pandemic is that we always do one another a favor if we wear a mask when we are not feeling well. We are hoping for fewer and fewer masks as we go!

By now, we have shared all arrival date information in earlier communications, but please do feel free to reach out to us if you are not clear as to when your child should return to school between Friday, September 2, and Monday, September 5. We will have our first day of classes on Tuesday, September 6.

We are extremely excited to be beginning with all of you. Enjoy these final days of summer and see you soon!

Best,

John R. Packard

Head of School