A MESSAGE FROM JOHN R. PACKARD JR. HEAD OF SCHOOL
Extending Our Reach As winter descends onto our 270-acre cam-
“ I feel a strong connection between the work we are doing in the moment to grow our financial aid budget and the good work so many Brooksians are engaged in with the less fortunate in mind.” 2
pus on the shores of Lake Cochichewick, we pivot in the direction of an exciting stretch in our year. The holiday spirit is alive and well at this time, with lights and seasonal decorations adorning Main Street and the large pine tree outside the Head of School’s residence. We all look forward to our Lessons & Carols service held the night before we break for winter vacation, after we have completed first semester final exams. We return in January to Winter Term and three weeks of a deeper dive into an area of interest in project-based and experiential ways. From there, we launch the second semester and push forward while beginning what is always a bittersweet final semester with the sixth form. While it is true that winter at Brooks School brings our broad and diverse community together routinely, every season has scores of moments that allow us to learn from and with one another in ways that matter to us and hold over time. A good part of what has allowed us to stretch and explore difference more meaningfully and substantively over the past number of years has been our commitment to growing our financial aid capacity and ability to reach the wide range of impressive students who visit our school every year. As this edition of the Bulletin will make clear, Brooks graduates have been moved in their lives by both the opportunity that was given to them as students here and the responsibility many have felt to pay it forward. I feel a strong connection between the work we are doing in the moment to grow our financial aid budget and the good work so many Brooksians are engaged in with the less fortunate in mind. I could make a strong case that there is no better measurement of a school’s worth than a
metric revealing the degree to which its graduates influence and enhance the lives of others. Frank Ashburn took to heart the oft-repeated phrase, “To whom much is given, much is to be expected.” To move the school forward with this sentiment squarely in mind feels right. While there are a number of ways in which I feel uniquely privileged as head of school at Brooks, the opportunity I have to straddle the school’s day-to-day life while also spending time with so many who attended Brooks at some earlier point in our existence is perhaps chief among them. As we work hard this year to finish well with The Campaign for Brooks, we do so with an aspiration of raising $10 million in new endowment for financial aid. We aim to build a community that learns from itself in ways that we intend and in ways that are serendipitous. I see and feel what the school is in the moment with more students attending Brooks on need-based financial aid than has ever been the case. I admire and appreciate what so many Brooks graduates have come to be in their lives. The combination tells me that we are realizing and living our mission fully. Countless communities all over the world are better places by virtue of the difference Brooks graduates have made in them. As we move forward intent on extending our reach in ways that enrich the student experience, we do so with great confidence that future editions of the Bulletin will flow with stories about the leadership and service to others that today’s students will deliver in the communities they will become a part of — an exciting thought. I wish you all a pleasant start to 2018 and hope to see you as the year takes hold.
B RO O KS BU L L E TI N