After what felt to me like the first true summer in a long time, I am very excited to welcome all returning families back as well as those that are new to our Burke’s community.  I hope your summer was full of gathering with loved ones and friends and maybe a little bit (or a lot) of adventure.

 

As I get my head around the start of a new school year, it feels great to see my daughters so excited to go back to their favorite place, the Burke’s campus.  The conversations surrounding our dinner table are about plaid jumpers and middies, our spectacular Acre team’s garlic noodles and Acre dessert Fridays, and how exciting it is to have Fall Festival back.  I do not recall ever sensing the excitement they feel about the first day of school, but that’s the magic of Burkes.    

 

That magic is created by our devoted Burke’s leadership, faculty, and staff, but just as importantly, it is created by all our committed families and the community we build together. From the Parents’ Association leadership perspective, this year our goal is simply to enable our community to flourish.  The last few years brought plenty of barriers to building community, but the combination of time, creativity, and great leadership has us poised for an incredible year full of old and new traditions as we keep moving forward.

 

Behind the scenes, parent committee chairs are already hard at work. Room Parents are preparing to support each class and planning back to school meet ups.  Our Burke’s Items and Used Uniforms committees are getting inventory ready for their first event of the year.   Fall Festival plans are in place as this beloved event is right around the corner.  These community events, big and small, are what create long-lasting memories for our daughters and give us an incredible opportunity to be part of our daughter’s school experience.

 

So, as we kickoff the 2022/23 school year, please put yourself out there and try something new.  Volunteer for a committee you have never been a part of or say hello to a family you have not gotten to know well in your class or in a different class.  Everyone’s personal situation and time availability are different, so there are always opportunities big and small to be present in the Burke’s community.  

 

We all have many other commitments in life, so being part of this community should be FUN and REWARDING.  Our goal as the Parents’ Association is to enable these rewarding experiences to happen, so please feel free to reach out to me, PA Vice President Laura Bolling, or your Room Parents with any ideas or simply feedback on how we continue to strengthen our diverse community.   As parents and guardians, we help to create the stories that become pages in our daughter’s memory book of their time at Burke’s.  We are all on this joyous journey together, and together we can only make it better and more memorable.