October 7th, 2020

Going to School with the Williams Family

By Rodney and Alisha Williams, parents of three students at The Park School in Brookline

Seven years ago, when our oldest daughter was approaching school age, our family friends told us about The Park School in Brookline. We loved the school from the moment we first stepped on campus.

Now that we’ve been at Park for several years, we have found it is providing an exceptional educational foundation for our children, Sarah-Alysse in Grade 5, Rodney in Grade 1, and Micah in PreK. (Our youngest, Elaina, isn’t quite old enough for Park yet!)

We were welcomed with open arms into a supportive community that nurtures and cares for every student. With Park’s low student-teacher ratio, our kids’ teachers have been able to adapt their teaching to the individual learning styles and levels of each student in their classrooms. For example, Rodney’s teacher is helping him focus on handwriting while she’s doing something different with each of her other first graders. And the small classes enable students to fully engage in collaborative and independent learning, both in person and remotely due to the coronavirus. This year, Park is using a hybrid model of in-person learning and remote Wednesdays. We feel that the school’s approach to COVID has been pretty comprehensive, with lots of extra precautions put in place to help keep our children healthy and well. Plus, they have a huge campus and are using it for as many outdoor classes as possible, which is comforting.

The Park community is truly welcoming to both students and adults — we and our children have built strong friendships over the years. As parents,  there are ample opportunities to take part in special projects at the school. For example, you can be a mystery reader for your kid’s class, you and your kids can help chop vegetables for the Pine Street Inn, and you can run games at the school fair in the spring — there really is a place for everyone to get involved.

Being part of this community, we are all growing and learning what it means to be part of a school that encourages expression, social responsibility, and educational excellence. But don’t just take our word for it, here’s what the experts say:

Micah (PreK): “I love playing in the playgrounds with my new friends.”

Rodney (Grade 1): “I like my first grade teacher, lunches, and music class.”

Sarah-Alysse (Grade 5): “One of my favorite places to be is in the Park School Library. There are so many books to choose from, we have the  best  librarians, and there is always a comfy spot to sit and read.”

Education