Greetings, Purgolder Community! 

I hope that you’ve enjoyed your holidays and been able to connect with family and friends. As much as we may look forward to these breaks, I have been eager to see our students return to campus on Monday. Walking through our mostly empty building over the holidays always reminds me to appreciate the talent, energy and vitality that our students bring into this school with them everyday. East is meant to be a busy place, with all kinds of students pursuing all kinds of interests - we wouldn’t want it any other way.  

I would like to recognize the efforts of our custodians, clerical staff and coaches who work during breaks to keep our building running and to ensure that our teams can keep pushing themselves to succeed. Contractors have also been hard at work over the break, preparing the renovated Milton McPike fieldhouse for its grand opening at the end of the month. I will have more details to share soon but can assure you now that it has already become a beautiful learning and community space which, like the Margaret Williams Theatre, will make clear to our students how much we value them.  

We are now entering the real home stretch of the semester with only two weeks of classes before final exams. Please talk with your students about how they are doing in their classes and ask them about their plans for finishing the semester strong. Don’t hesitate to reach out, and encourage your students to reach out to their teachers and support staff about what we can do to foster their academic success. Grades never tell the whole story of a student and their abilities, but we know that they play a big part in your students’ goals for high school and beyond. Though we may only have a few weeks to go in the semester, it is not too late for our collective efforts to have an impact. 

I know that the past month has been a difficult one for our community, and that it has been particularly hard for many of our students. I have been once again humbled and impressed by their resilience and genuine care for each other. Our students’ strength reflects the strength of the community around them. Though our staff have been working hard to support them, and will continue to do so as we return to school, please let us know if there is anything that your student needs or if you have any questions about what supports are available here at school or through our community partners. We are here for them, and we will get through this. As always, we are lucky to be at East.   

Thank you, and have a great month. 

Brendan Kearney

Interim Principal