The 2021-2022 school year was the most challenging Brooke has ever experienced in our 20 years of existence. While we knew that the prior year of mostly remote learning negatively impacted our students, none of us fully realized what we were stepping back into last fall.
So many factors made the year challenging—addressing students and adults’ dysregulation and mental health difficulties, covering for more staff absences than ever before, rebuilding relationships through face masks, and navigating the overall stress of COVID uncertainties. We felt the cumulative impact of these challenges every day.
Still, we pushed through. By April, we started to do less reacting and more long-term planning. By August, we could return to something like normalcy. Every step of the way, we held firm to our values and to what makes Brooke a special place. Though we’re not 100% back to normal yet, we’ve emerged confident that we can build on our values and continue to create an even better place for our kids, their families, and our staff.
This report seeks to illustrate both our values and our journey throughout the last strange year. Thank you for being there alongside us.
With gratitude,
Jon Clark Co-Director, Brooke Charter Schools
Kimberly Steadman Co-Director, Brooke Charter Schools
Merry Boak Board Chair, Brooke Charter Schools
We were thrilled to once again welcome Brooke students into our schools and classrooms this past fall for full-time, in-person instruction.
Familiar and joyful first day of school moments accompanied this longawaited milestone, as kindergarteners met their teachers and older students reconnected with their peers.
This effort also relied on strong COVID safety procedures (such as masking, testing, and contact tracing) to ensure the we minimized the risk of transmission within our community.
To help address the academic gaps left by remote learning, we worked to re-establish in-person classrooms with the academic rigor and individualized support we believe every student deserves.
The Omicron COVID-19 wave’s mid-year impact required our teachers to maintain flexibility—covering for quarantining teammates and supporting students to stay on track during their periods of absence.
Our Culture of Achievement not only values academic growth, but also treasures our scholars’ identities and cultural heritage. The realities and lessons of the past two years fueled our desire to recreate our sense of community.
In 2019, more than three-quarters of Brooke students met or exceeded expectations on the state MCAS exams. These results showed Brooke students to be among the highest achieving in Boston. The year plus of remote learning brought on by the pandemic, however, resulted in significant learning loss, from which we are still recovering. When we look at the achievement of Brooke students relative to the rest of the state, we are regaining the ground we lost.
When viewed in absolute terms, however, our results show we have a lot of catching up to do. We are confident we will surpass those 2019 levels again. But we still have a lot of work to do to get there.
On May 12, 2022, Brooke Mattapan cut the ribbon on its new athletic field with the help of the New England Patriots! Brooke raised $1MM to refurbish its playground and basketball court and create a brand-new flag football field. The field benefits Brooke students and the broader Mattapan community.
On May 26, 2022, Brooke Mattapan’s Live
At The Apollo event featured students performing poetry, songs, modern dance, STEP, and a fashion show wherein students wore clothes honoring their heritage. The auditorium was bursting with pride from students, family, and staff, cheering together for the first time since 2020.
On June 11, 2022, Brooke held its first annual gala (aka “Teacher Prom”) since before the pandemic. This event welcomed hundreds of Brooke staff and their guests to escape from the everyday, boarding a ferry boat for an evening of dinner, dancing, and awards on Thompson Island. It was a much-deserved night to remember.
Anonymous Donor (2)
Charles Hayden Foundation
Eastern Bank Foundation
The Klarman Family Foundation
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Martin Richard Foundation One8 Foundation
Richard and Susan Smith Family Foundation
Brian and Stephanie Spector Yawkey Foundation
Anonymous Donor (3)
Brett and Kate Alessi
Amazon Smile
Nancy Ash and John Vlahos Olusola Awodu
Carolyn Baez
Katherine Barnes
Candice Barter
Kimberly Bartlett Baupost Group
Vivian Beard
Ronda and Evan F. Berkman
Berkshire Partners
Laurie Berlin and Edward Deicke
Kenneth Bettenhauser
Christopher Bizzacco and Victoria Criado
Meredith Boak* and Josh Biber
Ann Borne
Boston Private Bank
Caston Boyd
Anne Brooke
Jaclyn Bryson
Rick and Nonnie Burnes
Bart Bussink and Ann Jenkins
Levin and Eleanor Campbell
Susan Carroll
Nicole and David Chang
Bob and Michelle Christman
Joel P. Clark
Jon Clark and Kimberly Steadman
Steve Conine
Caryle Connelly
William and Judith Cowin
Kyle and Lindsay Crossley
Isabella Cucchi
Barb and Dekkers Davidson
Carla DeSantis
Mairead and Bob Doherty
Michael Dollen
Thomas and Ellen Draper
Emily and Evan Dvorin
Nneka Edwards-Burgess
Laurel and Ken Ferretti
Jon Finelli
Alex* and Amy Finkelstein
Tom and Carla Fortmann
Susan Gannon
Jonathan Garland*
Richard Gilbody
Nicole Grandinetti and Joshua Bolduc
Alex Grodd
Jacob and Liz Grossman
Greg and Katty Halloran
Tom and Emily Haslett
Anthony Hill
HUB International
Frank and Nada Isler
Kristi Jobson
Johnson Family Charitable Fund
Michael and Wendy Kail
Thomas Kail
Ali Neugebauer
Charlotte Kelly
Meryl Kessler and Scott Oran
Rona Kiley
Maryanne Klein
Matthew Knox
John Kohn
Hannah and Jeffrey Krafchick
Lisa and Roger Krakoff
Krokidas & Bluestein Attorneys
Elliot Kronstein and May S. Baldwin
Lauren Kushman
David and Jessica Lavallee
Daniel Leist
Local Initiatives Support Corporation
Andrew Locke
Carolyn and Steve Locke
Colleen and Mark Magleby Melinda Magleby
Divya Mani and Vicente Piedrahita
Emily Marsh
Massachusetts Cultural Council Devita McConnell*
Zachary Means
Gretchen Medina
Jonathan Moldover
Sherif and Mary Nada Nya Nichols
Janet and David Offensend
Thomas O'Rourke Jr.*
Alan and Helen Paret
Sheila Perch
Sandhya Rao and Andrew Strobert
Jill Reynolds and Rich Frost
Quincey Roberts
Don and Virginia Robinson
Susan Rudnicki
Todd and Rachel Safferstone
LaTasha* and Thaddieus Sarpy
Carolyn and Paul Sax Geneva Seemore
Rachel Shack
Matt and Kristin Shaver
Thomas Shively and Lisa Coney
Derri Shtasel and Gary Gottlieb
Bert and Elizabeth Snyder
Susan Snyder and Paul Giragos
Jon Spack and Hagar Berlin Ruth Spack
Laurence Spang and Susan Marsh
Ann and Steve Sparkes Tracy Springer-Delpeche Ben Starr
John and Sharilyn Steadman
Karl Strother
Richard and Elizabeth Swartz
Jody Teevens
Elena Thurman
Jennifer Toll
Michael and Nancy Tooke
Anne Nancy Traiser
Meg and Peter Valine Christine Vincenti
Rodger Von Kries and Carol Lincoln
Mallory and Drew Walker Jane and Wayne Walker Suzy Wang
Jordan Warshaw
Sean and Gogi Welch
Benjamin Whipple and Carol Gladstone
Tatiana Whitley
Calvin Willett
Natasha Williams*
Sally and Dudley Willis Mary Wissemann
Hamilton Wood
Linda, Edward Jr. and Barry Wright
Kate Wright Apfelbaum and Andrew Wright
Personnel—Salaries
$8,779,941
Grateful for families, friends, celebrating, and our class of 2022!
Brooke High School celebrated 67 members of the Class of 2022 with our first-ever indoor commencement ceremony.
The Brooke High Class of 2022 radiated an energy of resilience and gratitude for the opportunities they were able to take advantage of.
Members of this third graduating class were accepted to over 80 institutions of higher education. Our scholars are matriculating to ▪ Amherst College ▪ Boston University
Brandeis
Howard
MIT
Northeastern
Tufts ▪ The UMASS campuses
“ Although we all initially felt differently about being back in person, we’ve taken full advantage of our senior year to focus on unifying our class… the connections we’ve built have fueled this entire school year into being worth the wait”
–VALEDICTORIAN ALEXANDRA GUZMAN
Brooke East Boston | Brooke Mattapan | Brooke Roslindale | Brooke High School