Celebrating 40 Years at Nashoba Brooks with Merry Long
On Tuesday, June 4, members of the Nashoba Brooks community came to campus In celebration of Merry Long and her 40 years at Nashoba Brooks School. It was a pleasure to welcome back many familiar faces, past and present, which included current and past parents, alumni, employees, friends, and family.
It is a rare and special occasion when a school gets to celebrate 40 years of devotion and service. One cannot begin to count the contributions or measure how lives have been changed by Merry Long. From the classrooms in Kindergarten, Preschool, and Grade 1 science to the library, admission office, and summer programs, Merry has brought together so many rich experiences that became fond memories as well as important life lessons for so many.
To officially begin the celebration, joined by a group of Lower School students, music teacher Paul Benzaquin led the audience in song as everyone sang and reflected upon Merry. Head of School Danielle Heard expressed gratitude and appreciation for the extraordinary person, friend, teacher, colleague, and mentor that we have all found in Merry Long. Merry, no words do you justice.
Danielle announced that, as a small token of our appreciation for Merry’s important and lasting work, we will be dedicating the new community garden which will be established as part of our upcoming building project to her. The garden will serve as a celebration of Merry’s exceptional work through the integration of nature into students’ learning, active exploration, and the deep and powerful understanding that can come with learning that emerges and develops through patience, time, and growth.
Employees concluded with a live Wordle tribute to Merry, where they held up signs they made, with each sign reading a word they associated with Merry: caring, warm, loving, life-changing, hero, selfless, inspiration, attentive, and many others.
Merry Long will be dearly missed. In the words of Danielle Heard, “Her impacts on our community have been many, positive, meaningful, and enduring. We are deeply grateful for her contributions to Nashoba Brooks School.”
We were delighted that so many members of the community could join us for this special occasion and would like to thank Merry for everything she has given to the Nashoba Brooks School community.
Grade 3 students participated in a favorite Nashoba Brooks tradition: a Sharing of Understanding. This event hosted family members to listen and learn about what their students have been working on at School, including a recorder recital and in-depth explanations of multiple indigenous peoples.
It was a packed weekend on the Nashoba Brooks campus for Fall Weekend!
Thank you to all the parent volunteers, student ambassadors, faculty members, and all other roles who contributed to making this weekend so memorable for our School.
After weeks of hard work, Grade 3 students had the opportunity to present their Community Hero projects to their families and their interview subjects!
The Nashoba Brooks School campus was bursting with excitement Friday, November 4, through Sunday, November 6, as we celebrated our annual Fall Weekend.
After almost a year of research, school visits, interviews, self-reflection, and essay writing, the Grade 8 class is enjoying a variety of excellent high schools to choose from.
Alongside the book fair and poetry month, April has been a wonderful time for literature at Nashoba Brooks School. Sharon Draper and Jen Campbell, two celebrated authors, left their mark on the community over the past few weeks.
More than 75 parents responded to this year’s annual School survey and numbers were well balanced across all grade levels. The results of the survey are impressive and the feedback the parents offer to the School is glowing.
As Black History Month comes to a close, students and faculty alike celebrate diversity, acknowledging that a school is not only classrooms, gymnasiums, and fields, but also the people within these walls. Each year and at every grade level our students contemplate the presence and importance of different backgrounds, experiences and beliefs. And this month provides community members with an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be Black in America.
Rachel Adams graduated from Nashoba Brooks School in 2001. She went on to study at Lawrence Academy followed by Maine College of Art and Design. Now living in Portland as a successful artist, textile designer, entrepreneur, wife and mother of two, Rachel shares her journey from student to full time artist.
Guida Mattison, Nashoba Brooks School's director of secondary school placement, wants to remove as much stress as possible from the high school application process that Grade 8 students go through each year.
Situated on a beautiful 30-acre campus in historic Concord, Massachusetts, Nashoba Brooks School enrolls all genders in Preschool through Grade 3, and students identifying as girls in Grades 4 through 8. Nashoba Brooks is an independent school designed to build community, character, and confidence in its students.