DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

By Elizabeth Smith, Director of Development

Two years ago, Brimmer and May’s Board of Trustees and Administration launched our Strategic Priorities 2020 & Beyond to share the roadmap for advancing the School’s future. Since that time, it has been amazing to see the progress we have made and the determination to move the School forward in the midst of a pandemic. This has taken the form of vastly improved faculty compensation, DEIB-focused initiatives and programming, health and wellness programming, and a new playground, to name a few. For our alumni, the students and faculty relationships and the culture of Brimmer as a place where students are known well and challenged to reach their best is alive and well. We are moving ahead, always with our eyes on the prize – retaining and recruiting the best faculty who will continue to develop innovative curriculum; empowering our students to contribute to an inclusive community and enrich each other’s perspectives; and enhancing our collective experience of community. We are grateful that, as of February, we have already raised $900,000 for the 2021-2022 Annual Fund with high levels of parent and alumni support. With your help, we are on our way to another recordbreaking fundraising year, and we couldn’t be more grateful to our community for prioritizing Brimmer and recognizing that your philanthropic dollars stretch far here. We hope to be significantly over the $1 million mark by June 30th as the community continues to give our Board and Administration the flexibility to pivot and make decisions to fund initiatives and programs School-wide throughout the year. A strong Annual Fund speaks volumes about the Brimmer experience and guarantees continued excellence for today’s students.

Although we had to cancel our NYC Alumni event in January and our Florida Alumni trip in February because of the Omicron surge, we plan to return to in-person parent and alumni events this spring, even if they look a little different.

We are looking forward to an outside, tented Auction on our Middlesex Road field on Saturday, April 23. Plan to join us, in raincoats if needed, for The Lawn at Brimmer, where safety and can-do attitudes will be our uniforms of choice. There will be fire pits, games, food trucks, drinks, and silent and live auction items. There will be an online component as well, so our Brimmer community can participate from afar.

Alumni Day is coming up on Saturday, May 14, with special class reunions for those classes ending in “2” and “7.” All alumni are invited as we welcome them back to campus for the first time in three years. The day will be packed and include a student and alumni basketball game; reunion class gathering time; a State of the School talk by Head of School Judy Guild; a cocktail party and dinner under a tent on the field; and more. Please consult the website and your email for the invitation and schedule. We will continue the highly successful Alumni & Parent 3-Day Challenge, and we will celebrate the Alumni Recognition award recipient and the newly revamped Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame awards. Please come back to see your classmates, Brimmer’s administrators, and your favorite teachers.

We look forward to reconnecting with many of our community members over the next few months as campus reopens to visitors. In the meantime, thank you for your ongoing support of Brimmer and our students during these unusual times. Go, Gators! ■