We are Family

Classes start in earnest today.  The last few returning students arrived yesterday. One of the things that always strike me at the beginning of a new year is the emotions students show when they first see each other again after the summer holidays. Screams of joy, leaping and hopping up and down, and loud, raucous banter are everywhere on the first day back. It is so heartwarming and emotional to witness. For our new students, this scene must seem somewhat peculiar. Over 100 students volunteer each year to come back to school 4 days early, cutting short their summer holidays to be here to welcome the new students.  How many of us remember begging our parents to come back to school early? Brentwood is more than a school; it is a community where deep and powerful friendships are formed and cultivated. Evidence of these bonds is everywhere you turn on our campus. When you only accept students if it is the students’ choice to be here, you create a school that is focused solely on the students. In so doing, a culture of caring, compassion and commitment is created. Brentwood is not a cliché.  We are not pretending to be anything that we aren’t. We are a second family in the truest sense of the term. At Brentwood we care deeply about each other.  We are a school like no other in so many ways. As I like to say, “seeing is believing”. Prospective students are welcome to come and stay overnight in the boarding houses and ask all the questions they want. They can dive in and see for themselves. Experience shows that they will come away in awe of how close and caring our community is. More often than not, they are the next wave of students asking their parents if they can join this special school. Welcome to the Brentwood family. Mr. Clayton Johnston, Director of Admission