Brooks School

March 8, 2014

 

Dear Parents,

 

With winter's grip holding firm all the way to the beginning of spring vacation this year, we are all ready for a change of pace and a change of climate. I have heard from a few different sources this week that the ice on Lake Cochichewick is about as thick as anyone can remember at this time of year -- 20 inches in many spots. We will hope for a warming trend through March, although it is hard to imagine being rid of all the snow and ice by the end of the month.

 

In the midst of the stubborn cold and snow, the school has accomplished a great deal since we transitioned from Winter Term to the second semester. The considerable volume of tests and papers that were taken and submitted this past week is the culmination of hard work on the part of our students through February and early March. This break has been earned by teachers and students alike.

 

Beyond the classroom, we wrapped up what might have been the finest winter athletic season the school has ever had this past weekend with the boys hockey team, girls hockey team, and boys basketball team all advancing in their respective tournaments. This past Sunday, some number of Brooks School students and faculty members attended both the championship game for girls hockey and the championship game for boys basketball. While the results were not what either team hoped for, all of our teams received high praise for their competitive spirit and sportsmanship. Between our athletes competing on the court and ice, and our students cheering their friends on, the school was well represented all weekend long. In the final analysis, the winter athletic season ledger included our first ever New England championship in wrestling, our first ever Division II national championship in boys squash, New England tournament finalist appearances in boys basketball and girls hockey, a New England tournament semi-final appearance in boys hockey, strong showings by both squash teams in their respective New England tournaments, and all sorts of students learning and playing new sports for the first time. We will be hard pressed to match this winter's success in the future!

 

While it is hard to believe, we have transitioned to some "spring" practicing here on campus over the past week, and we look forward to where we'll be one year from now with a full-sized synthetic turf field to use in these early snow-covered spring days. For now, we will make do in rowing tanks and in the athletic center.

 

With the synthetic turf field on schedule for delivery in the fall, we have also made more progress on both the Chapel project and the rink project since I last wrote to all of you. We continue to work on the Chapel's configuration so that the whole school community will fit into that space moving forward, and we continue to be encouraged about the possibilities. Work on the rink gets underway next week, and access to the facility will be limited and then eventually completely restricted later in the spring. There will be more to share about all of these exciting and important projects as we get into April.

 

When we return to school on the evening of Monday, March 31, and then begin classes again on the morning of Tuesday, April 1, we will be just eight weeks away from Prize Day and final exams. There is no stretch of time at Brooks that moves more quickly than this stretch, and our second visit program for admitted students will be held on Friday, April 4, and again on Tuesday, April 8. Our decisions will be posted early Monday morning for the roughly 940 students who submitted applications this year, and we will be doing all we can to work in the direction of enrolling these admitted students over the next month. It goes without saying that your help as current parents with families contemplating Brooks for the first time will make an enormous difference. So, I thank you in advance for the phone calls so many of you have agreed to take on, the important presence you will provide during second visit days when we return from the break, and for all the support you provide to families looking for as much perspective as they can find about Brooks School. You make a critical difference.

 

I hope that many of you are finding some route to warmer weather over the next three weeks. Kim, Kate, Elizabeth, and I will be in Florida for some vacation time together before I head to Los Angeles and San Francisco during the last week of the break to visit with alumni and alumnae in those two cities. Florida and California feel especially inviting this year!

 

Enjoy the month ahead. Think spring!

 
Best,
 

John R. Packard

Head of School