May 16, 2023

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we accelerate into the final stretch of the year with much of what has been a full and fulfilling spring term now behind us, I wanted to check in with graduation weekend and the beginning of summer vacation just about here. The spring always moves faster than any other season, and I can hardly believe that we are less than three weeks away from finishing the 2022-2023 school year. I suggested in a chapel talk back in early April that blinking in the spring might lead us to miss all that follows. While that is a bit of an exaggeration, we do find ourselves in the midst of enjoying a broad array of culminating events with the weather getting better, the days getting longer, and the time to fit it all in getting shorter! I suspect you are keeping up with all of this activity through the community newsletter and various social media channels, but I do want to reflect a bit on the spring, take a look at what is still to come, and close with an especially memorable experience in a spring that has been full of them.

While April always feels a bit more like March than May when it comes to weather, and was true to form this year, we had a great month of on-campus activity. Your help with our admission revisit days and the process involved in yielding a number of terrific students and families was deeply appreciated and got the spring off to a rousing start. The current parent and guardian perspective on the experience our students are having is an essential data point for prospective families, and all of you played an important role in sharing your experience with those considering a place at Brooks. As a result, our enrollment is strong and we are already underway in welcoming our newest community members to the school.

Through the middle of the month and into May, we hosted a number of alumni events and reunions. This provided a steady stream of reminders about the depth of relationships that form here, and how much the school matters to alums and parents spanning the generations. This, of course, was all going on while we finalized preparation for Advanced Placement exams, found our way into full stride with athletic programs despite a lot of inclement weather, and honed all sorts of performances that we have enjoyed and will enjoy on stage and elsewhere. April is usually a productive month that sets the table for all that comes to fruition in May. This year was no exception to the rule, and it is fun to be in the midst of that good work.

More recently, we have been enjoying a series of sixth-form chapel talks, which are always great opportunities to hear our students reflect on their years here. In this particular year, we have soon-to-be graduates who have found their way through a pandemic while still managing to give so much to their school. We will have much to celebrate with the class of 2023 in a couple of weeks. This past weekend, we enjoyed our first Saturday night Brookstock on the Class of 2020 Quad, our final Head of School Open House of the year, and, of course, the Prom on Sunday night! Great music and lots of fun with one another in all sorts of venues.

Looking ahead to the next couple of weeks, we have our alumni induction dinner for the class of 2023, Advanced Capstone history papers being presented, musical performances and recitals, and a student-directed spring play on Thursday, Friday and Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Chapin Dobbins ’23 has been hard at work leading her peers in what is certain to be a terrific performance of Peter and the Starcatcher. The week leading up to our Lawn Ceremony and Prize Day will be as full as any week of the year, and we will be particularly pleased to have those of you who are parents or guardians of members of the class of 2023 here for dinner and a slideshow looking back at these four years on Thursday of next week at 6 p.m. in the Keating Room. By now, we have fully saturated all of you with graduation weekend information, so I will not belabor the point. I will, however, emphasize how much we are looking forward to what should be a wonderful weekend celebrating 102 terrific young people with family and friends taking it all in.

Before closing, I do want to highlight one moment this spring that will remain with me for some time. An earlier community newsletter made all of you aware of the privilege we enjoyed when Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky visited campus and spoke to the school about the life-altering experience each of them had at the Boston Marathon bombing 10 years ago -- when our sixth-formers were still not yet 10 years old. This story on our website outlines what Patrick and Jessica shared with all of us in late April -- along with some great pictures of our students talking with them. Their courage, dignity and grace were moving and inspiring, and I found myself absolutely amazed at the ways in which they have carried on, flourished and thrived in their lives -- giving so much to others when sharing their experience. It is quite something to attend a talk where two people whose lives were unalterably changed by hate turn that experience into an enduring and heartfelt message centered on love. In ways that I found to be incredible, they emphasized the good fortune they have had in their lives -- gifted healthcare providers, communities they would never have otherwise known and been a part of, and the overwhelming good in people that continues to overcome the hate that changed their lives forever. It did not surprise me at all when students conveyed again and again that Patrick and Jessica were the best speakers they had ever heard. What a gift it was to have them with us.

I will look forward to seeing many of you over the next few weeks at various events, throughout graduation weekend, and then as we wrap up the year in early June. We continue to be extremely grateful for the privilege we have of working with your children at this beautiful place we all care so much about. Take care, and we will certainly stay in touch.

Best,

John R. Packard

Head of School