From the Head of School

CREATIVE COLLABORATION

Our world changed in an instant this spring, in ways that were both unexpected and unimaginable. But what emerged during this extraordinary time was the power of the Nashoba Brooks School connections. Our community came together under these uniquely challenging circumstances to pivot, navigate, move forward, and make a difference.

Community is a central pillar in our history and our future. It is at the core of all we do. The events of this year required all of us to adapt to the unforseen. Starting in September with the threat of EEE, through the arrival of the global pandemic in the early spring, and ending with the tragic deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor that compelled our nation to confront the deep roots of systemic racism and injustice; our community—employees, students, parents, and trustees—was able to draw on our mission, strategic directions, and core values of integrity, empathy, inclusivity, collaboration, and resilience to guide us. It was from this foundation of strength that some of our most meaningful and creative work emerged.

In this Spring/Summer issue of the Bulletin, we look at Nashoba Brooks from the angle of “collaborative problem-solving,” something that has always guided our work in our classrooms, board room, shared spaces, and, more recently, in the new Shilling STEAM Lab. In our feature story, we examine our shift to NashobaBrooks@Home, which invited all of us to embrace an innovative growth mindset, to attain new levels of learning, discovery, and achievement.

Our summer began with a launch of the 28-Day Anti-racism Challenge in which our Inclusivity Leadership Team (ILT) offered a host of wellcurated resources for adult community members to contemplate. We hope the reflections shared will encourage many more of us to “take the challenge” and join these important conversations. In this issue, we also honor the legacy of Literacy Specialist Leta Kniffin who retired at the end of this academic year. We thank her for her 17 years of service and her lasting impact on our community, our teaching practices, and her students.

We also share highlights from the work and accomplishments of our alumni, such as Fred Flather TG’90, who started a new clothing line for active, independent girls. We are so proud of our graduates and the many ways they are having a positive impact on our world. Please continue to connect with us and share your news for our class notes section.

There is much to celebrate at Nashoba Brooks School. We look forward to the opening of the discovery barn this fall as part of The Campaign for Our Future. The stunning new facility is emerging as a campus centerpiece and we cannot wait to fully utilize this new space. While annual giving declined for many schools this year, we are blessed to have a community so willing to invest in inspired education, our students, and our School.

I am grateful to each and every member of this community. Together, we have navigated uncertainty, explored new opportunities, achieved beyond what we could have imagined, and grown stronger together. We are eager to put our learning to work as we embark on a new academic year.

Warmly,

Danielle Heard Head of School