March 7, 2015

Dear Parents,

At long last we are on the verge of spring vacation and, perhaps, an end to the snow and cold that seems to have been with us forever. I hope that a number of you will be finding your way to a warmer climate over the next few weeks, and that those of us staying in the greater Boston area will get a reprieve from this persistent and challenging weather pattern. I spent a good portion of this week in San Francisco visiting with some alumni and alumnae, and 60 degrees and sun has never felt so good!

I was last in touch as the winter musical, Legally Blonde, was about to begin, and the production did not disappoint. With packed houses of students, teachers, and friends filling up the auditorium all three nights, we thoroughly enjoyed the story, the music, and so many magnificent performances on and behind stage. Much like columbinus in the fall, Legally Blonde captured the attention of the school community and led lots of students and adults to talk (and sing!) about the performance long after attending. Congratulations to Rob Lazar, Deanna Stuart, Kenneth Griffith, and all who worked so hard to pull together such a wonderful show.

This is also a time of year when winter athletic triumphs of all kinds culminate and come to exciting conclusions. This year has been no exception in this regard with multiple teams achieving impressive results, and all of our teams competing in ways we are all proud of -- win or lose. Our girls squash team capped off a terrific season with a Class B New England Championship. Our wrestling team won the Independent School League Championship for the second consecutive season and finished second out of roughly 50 schools in the New England Tournament -- one year removed from winning that tournament. Our boys hockey team again qualified for the New England Tournament after a fantastic season, and has advanced to the semifinal in the large school division for the first time. The boys basketball team will be playing in the New England Tournament semifinal and final (we hope!) this weekend in an effort to cap off its undefeated Independent School League championship season with a New England championship. All told, this is an extraordinary confluence of athletic success in one season.

Yet, I found myself equally impressed when I sat in School Meeting yesterday and heard coaches of our second and third teams present best teammate awards to so many athletes who were incredible examples and leaders on all of the teams that competed so impressively through these colder months. To get a glimpse into the hard work and exceptional citizenship exhibited by our athletes at all levels was deeply affirming. The championships are certainly worth celebrating. The hard work so many put in without a championship needs acknowledgment as well, and we are a school full of students who gave a great deal to their teams this winter. I am proud of them.

During Chapel on Monday, I had the privilege of presenting endowed faculty chairs to two members of the school's faculty. This was the third occasion in my tenure as Head of School when I have had this opportunity; this was the first time there were two chairs to present at once. With 18 different faculty members receiving nominations from colleagues, the presentation of these chairs to just two people is really a celebration of the whole faculty and the manner in which it works together on behalf of our students. With the Waldo Holcombe Chair going to History Department Chair Susanna Waters, and the Prince Charitable Trust Chair going to English teacher Leigh Perkins '81, these two joined our four other endowed chair holders: Mark Shovan, Dusty Richard, Doug Burbank, and Deb Davies. All six of them are exceptional teachers and school people, and all six would assert that great colleagues and students are their inspiration and the source of what has made them such transformational figures in the lives of Brooks School students. It was a great morning.

With so much to celebrate and be proud of as the winter draws to a close, I also want to note that we have had an undue amount of disciplinary activity to address over the past few weeks. This is always frustrating on a number of levels, but it is important to underline the fact that we have been dealing with just a handful of students amongst the 380 who attend the school. Nonetheless, it is a concern when we have three separate and isolated violations of the school's drug and alcohol rule, along with some unacceptable conduct on the part of a small number of students in one of our dormitories. Our effort in these moments is to address the behavior fully and completely, determine appropriate consequences for these transgressions, and stay engaged with these issues moving forward. As a result of these incidents, four students were suspended from school for some portion of the past few weeks, and one student withdrew from school. There is no charge we feel more intensely than our responsibility to take exceptional care of your sons and daughters, and the behavior we have been confronting challenges our ability to do that. We do not intend to shy away from that challenge, and hope that we have been clear on that point over the past few weeks. As always, please be in touch if you have questions or thoughts on these matters.

Looking ahead, we will be posting our admission decisions first thing in the morning on Tuesday, March 10. The admission office has worked hard during the past six weeks to make the best decisions it can, and our work will then shift to doing all we can to ensure that these admitted students choose to come to Brooks in the fall. Your work in support of this effort is critical, and I want to thank you ahead of time for all that you will do to help us yield some terrific students for 2015-2016 and beyond.

On a different front, we have been in a steady conversation about Internet hours this year, and we will be making an adjustment to our current approach following the break. With an ability to be a bit more targeted in our wireless service, we will be extending Internet access in the evening to 11:30 p.m. for fifth-formers, and to midnight for sixth-formers. We will continue to turn off access at 11 p.m. for the third and fourth form. This feels like a reasonable compromise given the range of concerns that have been raised since we moved away from turning off access at 12:30 a.m. back in the fall. It also fits more consistently with how we structure evening study hours, check-in times, and so forth. This will be our approach for the foreseeable future, yet we reserve the right to make a change if doing so feels necessary at some point down the line.

After enjoying the appreciation lunch you are so kind to treat the school's employees to on Wednesday, March 25, we will be jumping back into classes the next morning. At that time, we will be just three days away from third-quarter grades and comments being submitted in early April. Our second visit days for admitted students fall shortly afterwards on Friday, April 3, and Tuesday, April 7.

I will be in touch as we start up again at the end of the month. Until then, have a wonderful spring vacation.

Best,

John R. Packard

Head of School