November 16, 2022

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we close in on the beginning of Thanksgiving Break, I hope all of you are well and are looking forward to an extended stretch of family time. Our students, faculty and staff have been working hard for nearly 11 weeks and have earned every bit of this break. To have some time to step back, slow down and gear up for the final push of the first semester will do all of us a lot of good.

In thinking about all that we have accomplished over this fall season, the joy of going to school without pandemic restrictions has been palpable. We continue to find our way to community experiences that have been out of reach for up to three years in some cases, and we are excited about more to come over the balance of the year. Our winter athletic and afternoon programs are on schedule to run without any limitations when we return from Thanksgiving Break. All students have been placed in Winter Term classes scheduled to run in January with lots of opportunity to come and go from campus in ways that enrich so many of those courses. In the near future, we will be selecting students to participate in our exchange programs later this year and over the summer. We anticipate running Students on the Forefront of Science internships in more robust, in-person modes than the pandemic allowed. Close and interactive work has been the norm in classrooms, and field trips are no longer off limits. We are all in Chapel together and have so much to look forward to in that space between now and the end of May. To be realizing and feeling community in the ways that we have this fall has been a thrill. 

In the recent past and present, the cast and crew of Arsenic and Old Lace delivered three wonderful performances to wrap up last week. Kata Clark ’25 led the cross-country teams to strong showings at the ISL and New England championships, where she took first place in both races. Four of our teams (boys soccer, girls soccer, field hockey, football) qualified for postseason tournaments and bowl games that are taking place this week -- an incredible feat for our small school. There will be additional performances and holiday spirit in the air when we move into December and the winter months. And, those who completed the Chipotle Challenge are getting their reward with the real thing right here on campus last night and tonight.

Yet, as I think about a recent highlight that I’d like to emphasize in this letter, I am drawn to the first Saturday night open house we have been able to hold in the head of school’s residence since February of 2020. I have long felt that it is pretty neat that so many students choose to hang out with one another for a couple of hours in the Head of School’s House on a Saturday night with lots of food to eat, some games to play, a game on the television to watch, and our two dogs looking for any food scraps that fall to the floor. Kim and I have missed hosting these events in the middle of the campus -- stymied first by the pandemic and then by construction. With the work on our home 99 percent complete, it was so fun to have what felt like hundreds of students enjoying the evening together. Here is how it all went:

Ahead of attending Arsenic and Old Lace, Kim and I set things up in our new and improved home with games (cards and chess are fan favorites), lots of spaces to gather with friends, the Bruins game on the television, a candy bar in the kitchen, and cookie dough, cookies, snacks, and drinks set out on our beautiful new porch outfitted with shutters and heaters to ensure we can use the space through the winter. As soon as the play ended, I rushed home to meet the Jimmy’s Pizza delivery team, who arrived right on schedule with the following: 14 giant calzones (steak & cheese, chicken parmesan, buffalo chicken, barbecue chicken, and honey barbecue chicken), 2.5 platters of mozzarella sticks, 1 platter of chicken fingers, 11 sides of macaroni and cheese bites, pizza, and all the plates and napkins we would need. It is an incredible sum of food, and watching your children devour it all is a sight to behold.

In between keeping the food supply stocked, I witnessed one group of students playing a boisterous game of cards in our dining room, another group peering down the stairs to our basement certain that it had to be more than just a basement (which is all it is -- no truth to tunnel rumors), and a third group having a conversation with every member of the group looking at their phones at the same time -- an interesting skill. Above all, the evening reminded me how much I missed having students in this beautiful home my family and I have been so fortunate to live in through these years -- situated in the middle of the campus, as it should be. To see and feel so many of your children having such a great time with one another here on campus and in our home was a super way to spend our final weekend ahead of Thanksgiving Break. We are already looking forward to more of the same as winter takes hold.

I will look forward to seeing a number of you over the next few days at our parent and guardian dinner tomorrow night, and at tournament games we hope will run through the weekend. Thank you for all you have done in so many ways to support the school and the experience we had together this fall. We are excited about all that is still to come through the winter and spring. Take care and have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Best,

John R. Packard

Head of School