Families of new Brooks School students met each other and talked with school leaders on August 26 during the New Family Reception. See the photo album on brooksschoolphotos.com. 

Arrivals & Packing Reminders

• Coming to Campus: The countdown is on to opening days, Sept. 3 through Sept. 6! An updated opening schedule has been added to the Parent Resources page of the school's website. Check it out for details about where students/families need to be – and when. If you cannot arrive during your scheduled time, please contact Director of Student Affairs Ingrid Knowles directly. 

• All Families: Arrival emails have been sent to all students and families. If you have any questions about your scheduled arrival, please contact Ingrid Knowles as soon as possible. 

• Boarding Students: As your boarding student is preparing to pack for dorm living, please keep in mind the following regulations and read the dormitory fire and decoration regulations guide for dorm rooms. If a student arrives with any of the restricted items, they will need to take them back home. In particular, please note: 
• Monitors/TVs may only be up to 32" (with an exception for sixth-form students: They may bring devices with a larger screen size). 
• Gaming consoles are only allowed in rooms of sixth-form students. 
• Any outside furniture must meet the fire regulations explained in the decoration guide. 
• No air conditioners. 

• Packing: In addition to items in the packing guide, please consult Brooks' dress code for guidance about attire to bring to Brooks. Don’t forget a swimsuit for the swim test (see details below)! 

• New families: New families who are arriving on Sept. 3 are invited to return on Sept. 5 for new family programming, which begins at 1:15 p.m., if you are able to attend. Please note that attending these optional events is up to each family’s discretion. See the full schedule of events for Sept. 5.

New-Student Advisors

New students: Advisors have been notified of their new-student assignments. Families should be hearing from them soon. Their communication will include a time for an in-person meeting on Sept. 5 or a virtual option for those who cannot join us on campus. Advisor information can be found in OnBrooks.

Interested in Carpooling?

Day student families interested in opting into a carpooling list to be shared among other interested day student families, please sign up on the Day-Student Carpooling form. While the school will help facilitate the distribution of names and towns of interested carpoolers, families will be responsible for all communication and coordination of potential carpools. This list will be distributed to families the week of Sept. 16.

Student Affairs Office

Director of Student Affairs Ingrid Knowles (above on left) Associate Director of Student Affairs Cora MacKenzie (in middle) and Assistant Director of Student Affairs Erik Krahn (on right) are excited to welcome students back to campus for the upcoming school year. Each is available for day-to-day operations of the office including student permissions, attendance and any other questions or concerns you may have regarding your student’s experience at Brooks.

Campus Leave Procedures

Students will be briefed on protocols for leaving campus during orientation. It is important for families to know how this works as well. We use a management system called REACH that will push out an email to families for approval whenever a student makes a request to depart campus. See a comprehensive guide of the REACH system.

Wondering What Students Will Eat?

Download the MyMenus app to your smartphone and view daily updates and the variety of options available in the Wilder Dining Hall.

Educational consultant and Association of Technology Leaders in Independent Schools board member Eric Hudson ran a fascinating workshop for teachers about artificial intelligence during the faculty's opening-of-school meeting yesterday.

Textbooks

Many of you are in the process of ordering textbooks and materials and we appreciate that you have been asking questions. You can find information about textbooks and enrolled courses in our letter from July 23. Students should try to have all the required books and materials for their classes by the time school begins. Please continue to send any questions or concerns through the Course Questions Form!

Classes and Schedules

We notified students last week that their class blocks, daily schedule and teacher assignments are available in OnBrooks. Families have access to this information as well. For reference, view/download the 2024-2025 block schedule. Some other reminders:

• Students should be actively checking their Brooks email and signing into OnBrooks. Any student having trouble logging into either of those areas should contact Registrar & Director of Administrative Computing Lisa Saunders (OnBrooks) or Director of Technology Ryan Dobbins (email/Google).
• Students should complete their summer reading, including the All Community Read, and any relevant assignments by the time they arrive on campus. You can find more information in the Summer Reading and Assignments area of OnBrooks.
• Please review the latest 2024-2025 Important Dates and Special Schedules. (This document will change as we continue to finalize details, so check the live Google doc often).

Deans' Den Blog: New Contributors

We're thrilled to welcome new teachers to campus as we begin the school year! Faculty recently began with a two-day, competency-based education (CBE) workshop. How will that impact students at Brooks? Find out in the new Deans' Den Blog, where Brooks leaders share a look inside the classrooms and life on campus. 

Dean of Teaching and Learning Joanna McDonough; Dean of Academic Affairs Currie Joya Huntington; Dean of Faculty Tim Benson; Director of Student Affairs Ingrid Knowles; and Dean of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Terri Ofori will all collaborate on the weekly blog throughout the academic year. 

Fall Apparel Store Closing Tonight!

Don't forget that the fall apparel online store is closing tonight. Order your swag and show your Brooks pride!

Independent School League (ISL) Memo

Please read this important memo for all community members from the ISL heads of school about committing to the ISL standards of good sportsmanship at our games and sporting events.

Sign Up for Private Music Lessons

Please complete the 2024–2025 Private Music Lessons Form if your student is interested in taking weekly instrumental and/or voice lessons available through Brooks. Instruction is available on more than a dozen instruments. Our team of instructors is happy to work with students of any level of experience. Lessons typically meet during the academic day in a free block in the student’s schedule. Contact Director of Music Michael Bruschi with questions.

Audition for MMEA Honors Ensembles

We encourage students to audition for the Massachusetts Music Educators Association honors ensembles. These are essentially “all-star” bands, orchestras and choirs comprised of the best high school musicians in each region of the state. Please complete the MMEA Northeastern District Audition Interest Form if you are interested in learning about how the audition process works for students in Northeastern Massachusetts.

Business Office

Student Debit Account Cash Withdrawals

Cash withdrawals from student debit accounts can be done at the Business Office (the building between the Center for the Arts and Chapel, on the second floor) between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Students must have their Student ID to make a withdrawal. 

Reminder: The School Store and the snack bar can charge student debit accounts directly. Students do not need cash to make purchases at these locations.

A few teachers who live on campus grew herbs and veggies in their gardens this summer. Yesterday, they shared their harvest with faculty who attended professional development in the Science Forum.

Mailroom Update

The campus mailroom is currently under construction. While under construction, the pickup process for packages and letter mail has been modified. We will provide weekly updates to pickup instructions as needed until the construction is complete.

If you have a package or letter mail, you will receive an email notification from QTrak letting you know that your package/mail has been received and is ready for pickup. (Packages and letters are not available for pickup until you receive the notification from QTrak).  

• Package/letter mail pickup can be done in person at the mailroom door (next to the school store entrance) Sept. 3 through Sept. 6 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
• Textbook orders will be available for pickup at the student center beginning on Sept. 3 and may be picked up any time.  

School Store Hours

If you are planning ahead for shopping, the school store hours beginning on Sept. 3 are: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Family Programs

Parent and Guardian Dinner Series

We are thrilled to again be hosting our annual on-campus dinner series for our parents and guardians. Our hope is for parents and guardians to come together with each other and Acting Head of School Nina Freeman. We hope you can attend! Please visit the dinner series registration page and list your date preferences in order. Questions? Feel free to reach out to Director of Family Engagement and Giving Mary Merrill.

Tell Us About Your Family

To keep our school records up to date, please take a few minutes to fill out our Brooks School Family Update 2024-2025 form. New families, please fill out the entire form. Returning families, we ask that you share any edits or changes.

This information is for internal school use only and is utilized to help make connections within our community.

We request that you fill out this update by Sept. 15. If you have any questions, please contact Director of the Brooks Fund and Family Engagement Mary Merrill.

Family Weekend Registration is Open

Thank you to all of the families who have already registered for Family Weekend, held this year Oct. 3 through Oct. 5.

In addition to our typical programming this year we are excited to welcome Max Stossel from "Social Awakening" on Oct. 4 at 2 p.m in the Center for the Arts theater. Stossel will illustrate some of the specific ways technology is designed to be addictive and distracting, highlight how that's impacting our kids’ minds and give recommendations on how to address some of the challenges you and your family are facing. This presentation concludes with open space to discuss what’s working and not working in our households.