Brooks School
December 16, 2014

Dear Parents,

After a long stretch in the fall that runs without much interruption until we get to Thanksgiving vacation, we now enter a phase in the year with lots of stops and starts -- and here we are just days away from winter vacation! While the time has moved quickly since we returned to classes two weeks ago, we have certainly been busy during this stretch, as I suspect your sons and daughters have conveyed. The break that is nearly upon us will come at a time when some rest following an intense 17 days will be well-deserved.

 

The intensity I am referencing comes from a range of factors, but perhaps two above all others: First, we are finishing the first semester and are in the midst of final assessments. This year, we spread those assessments out across all three of these weeks with hope that this would lead to a more balanced and manageable stretch for students and teachers alike. Yet, no matter how we approach finishing a semester's academic work, we will inevitably find ourselves anxious about how all of that hard work will settle. In addition, the Class of 2015 is waiting for and receiving early decision and early action college news on a daily basis in December. Some of our sixth-formers are on edge despite an especially thoughtful effort on the part of our College Counseling Office to help them through these stressful few weeks. This impacts the class above all else, of course, but ripples throughout the school in certain ways. Thus, the combination of exams, final papers and projects, and college admission decisions coming in adds up to a lot for the student body to carry at once.

 

With all of this in mind, it is our goal in December to blend some fun and holiday spirit into the mix, and we will do just that on Thursday at our Lessons and Carols service in the Ashburn Chapel! We could not be more excited about how the work has both transformed and captured the wonder of this magnificent Brooks School landmark -- worth the wait! We'll finish the night with a dinner, some singing, and then a dance before everyone begins to make their way home for winter vacation on Friday morning.

 

Before we depart, however, let me share a bit of what we have been up to over the past couple of weeks, along with some thoughts on what lies ahead in January.

 

I was in Washington, D.C., at the end of our first week back from Thanksgiving vacation attending a conference run by The Association of Boarding Schools. While there, I attended a range of workshops, stretching from financial aid approaches to how we might do a better job mentoring faculty members. In addition, Susan Cain, author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts, gave a wonderful talk about how we might do better at including the introvert/extrovert mix of students and faculty members in our schools. Above all, it was nice to be with colleagues engaged in shared conversation about working in the direction of improving boarding school experiences for students.

 

Last Tuesday, I spent a full day on retreat with the school's Diversity Leadership Council engaged in some initial thinking about developing a diversity and inclusivity strategic plan. We worked with Christine Savini, who is the Director of The Independent School Diversity Seminar, which we host at Brooks each summer. Over the course of the day, we identified a number of goals and aspirations we hope to bring into draft form over the next few months, and we look forward to sharing this work as it develops.

 

While we do not engage in working on this plan as a direct response to the recent and tragic deaths of three African-American young men and one African-American boy in Ferguson, Missouri, New York City, and Beavercreek and Cleveland, Ohio, respectively, we are mindful of the fact that we are engaged in this work during a period of time when tensions are high and understanding feels elusive. Thus, our effort to elevate our consciousness and appreciation of the many ways the Brooks community is enriched by difference, and might build upon that richness over the months and years ahead, seems to be precisely what we ought to be doing. In ways both formal and informal, we will continue to work with students who are yearning for conversation through this trying time. We work hard at Brooks to be a community that is committed to doing all it can to ensure that its members feel able to be their whole and best selves while they are here. It is our expectation that the planning work we are engaged in will allow us to be increasingly effective in this pursuit.

 

Last week ended with our annual Winter Concert held in the Auditorium on Friday night. Our choral and instrumental groups shared impressive talents with parents, faculty members and peers. This is always a nice occasion, and a terrific way to get into the holiday spirit! This week, we are immersed in wonderful final speeches given by students who have taken our oratory class during the fall. To see them in front of so many, so well prepared and confident in what they have to say is really something. In addition, final Winter Term selections have been shared with your daughters and sons, and all of us are looking forward to this three-week period and decidedly different mode we will experience upon our return to school in early January.

 

Finally, our return to the Ashburn Chapel this week seems like an appropriate time to share with all of you our plans to search for a school minister and director of spiritual life, which we will be engaging in more fully in January. We have been incredibly fortunate to have Interim School Minister Alden Flanders with us through these two years, and his help with this search will be critical. We are eager to be talking with candidates who are excited about working at our school, in a magnificent new space, and with the entire school community in ways that will elevate the experience we have together. If you are interested in reading the job description, you can find it here.

 

I wish all of you a wonderful holiday season full of time with family and friends. I look forward to being in touch and hope to see you in 2015.

 

Best,

 

John R. Packard

Head of School