Crissy Shares Welcome Letter for New School Year
This letter originally appears in the 2024–2025 Back-to-School Manual, which was emailed to all current families.
Dear BFS Community,
It is my sincere hope that you have been enjoying a wonderful summer complete with a balance of experiences that fulfill you. As is true with every summer, we have been working throughout these months to prepare for the coming school year to welcome you warmly back to BFS. These have included building projects and improvements to our school’s spaces, technological advancements and priorities, distillation of health paperwork from families, review of systems and creation of new and necessary ones, and ideating around students’ and colleagues’ needs. This has all been true while considering the tenor and experiences within our local, national, and global community, and generating core plans for points of care, connection, and growth throughout our year ahead.
The Leadership Team has been giving immense focus to our Strategic Vision, assessing our progress thus far and planning for the activation over the course of the 2024-25 school year. While I look forward to comprehensively updating you in the early weeks of the school year, within this communication, I want to highlight three important elements that are right at the heart of alignment to our school’s mission, values, and identity as a Quaker school.
From Preschool to Early Childhood
In support of key areas of focus within our Strategic Vision, including Mission, Curriculum and Pedagogy, and our overall school’s identity and attention to who we are, please note that one of our four Learning Communities has undergone a name change. In partnership with Early Childhood Director Kristin Brady, I would like to proudly announce that BFS will be shifting its language from “Preschool Learning Community” to “Early Childhood Learning Community.” As an educator and leader who has always spanned environments serving toddler-aged children through young adults, and especially within BFS—where we begin the educational experience for children as early as two years old—I was compelled to make this shift because of the precursor PRE. Our definition of school within our two-four year-old program is not one that involves PRE-learning, PRE-exploring, PRE-social/emotional development, PRE-growing, PRE-formalized curricula—it is simply not PRE school. Truly, it is a fully developed and comprehensive program that embeds play as a core construct of learning at BFS. Our two-to-four year-olds enter our school, and they are guided by incredible expert educators committed to providing them a thorough and meaningful educational experience. As I have consistently maintained, language matters. Aligning words to mission matters. Who we truly are matters. Please join me in embracing our new words that capture who we are for our youngest community members—Early Childhood Learning Community (ECLC). Thank you to Kristin for her continuous and devoted expertise and caring leadership, and to all ECLC colleagues who simply love what you do and show it daily.
Cell Phones and Our Students: BFS’ All-School Commitment to an Uncompromising Focus on Wholeness and Wellbeing
As part of our ongoing commitment to the wholeness and wellbeing of our students, we have made the important decision to expand our existing policy within the rest of our learning communities and will no longer allow cell phone use during the school day for our Upper School students. To be absolutely clear, students at Brooklyn Friends will turn their phones in each morning and receive them at dismissal. Recognizing that there are varied perspectives on this issue, we are an educational space—and our moral compass will always be consistently focused on what is in the best interest of the overall health of our students so that they can shine their light in the greatest and most promising ways possible. As such, this decision is rooted in the growing body of research highlighting the negative impact of cell phone usage on young people’s mental health, focus, and overall wellness. Studies from expert organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, who as early as 2016 (and reaffirmed in 2022) began to note the need for us to mind the impact of cell phones, have shown that reduced cell phone use during school hours can lead to improved academic performance, lower levels of anxiety, and stronger interpersonal relationships among students. Additionally, research from the University of Texas at Austin, which began several years ago and has continued, found that even the mere presence of a cell phone can reduce cognitive capacity, making it harder for students to focus on learning tasks. Impacted by much of this compelling and strong research that’s occurring globally, the United States Surgeon General recently issued an advisory within their report: Social Media and Youth Mental Health.
This policy change aligns with the current practice in our Middle School and with our Strategic Vision, which emphasizes BFS’ strong focus on curriculum, pedagogy, and the wholeness and well-being of our students. Our Quaker values call us to prioritize mindfulness, simplicity, and the cultivation of deep, meaningful relationships. By limiting cell phone use, we encourage our students to be fully present in their daily interactions, with their peers and their teachers, both in and out of the classroom, thereby fostering a stronger sense of community and enabling them to engage more deeply in their studies and with each other. This approach not only supports our students’ academic growth but also their emotional and social development, creating a more balanced and focused learning environment, both which are crucial for them to navigate their BFS experience feeling held and whole.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to Liz Fernández, our esteemed Head of the Upper School Learning Community, as well as the entire the Upper School Leadership Team and all of our Upper School colleagues for their unwavering attention and care in determining what is best for the strong and healthy development of our students in this increasingly complex landscape. Your dedication to fostering an environment that upholds our BFS’ values and supports our students is both inspiring and essential. We respectfully recognize that this change from our current policy, in which students in the Upper School are able to access their phones between classes, may require an adjustment period, and we are committed to working closely with all students and families to ensure a smooth transition. As part of this process, the Upper School Leadership Team will first meet with students to ensure they fully understand the care for their well-being that has guided this decision. The specific details of this policy shift will be shared with families upon the start of the school year in several weeks. We appreciate your continued partnership and support as we strive to steadily and uncompromisingly realize the values of our school, which prioritize the health and wellness of our entire community.
BFS Unification Project and our Master Campus Planning Process
Oh, what an exciting time it has been in dreaming and conceiving of what is possible as a UNIFIED Brooklyn Friends School! While this is an initial and brief update, please know that much more will unfold in the months ahead as we continue our work with our architects, board, leadership, and additional voices to further the work that we have completed to date. The current phase of the project includes a comprehensive Master Campus Planning Process, led by PRO Architects, a Brooklyn-based firm deeply aligned with our school’s mission. We have also been supported by the Cumming Group, a dedicated and expert project management firm that has been with us from the start of this important journey. Once complete, the Master Campus Plan will help us better understand our current campus spaces and outline the exciting possibilities for our unified home. We look forward to sharing updates and welcoming each of your voices throughout this historic endeavor.
As I close my reflection in the days leading up to our much anticipated and vibrant start to the 2024-2025 school year, I want to thank you. I am entering my 29th year in education, and my 6th year as the leader of our beautiful school, which serves as an example of much of what is needed in our world – rational and collaborative thinking, compassionate and thoughtful engagement, curiosity and joy, connection and love, and a steady commitment to values that uplift and respect our humanity. THIS is the school that I am honored to lead. THIS is a second home for children and adults alike. THIS is our world of possibility and wonder. THIS is COMMUNITY. BFS is you, your children, our local and global community, and us. I am proud to be on this journey with you—now more than ever.
Blue Pride Runs Deep—Friends Forever!
Grateful for your trust,
Crissy