I am excited to confirm I have accepted the position of Interim Director of Education here at Brehm. This is an opportunity that brings me such joy as I look at the trajectory of my life as an educator and my future goals as part of the Brehm family. There is a lot to do in the upcoming months and we have the best team for continuing to offer the individualized services that our students need and to prepare for a successful future for them and our program!

I started the process Thursday of explaining to the students what their English Language Arts, Literature, or Creative Writing Classes will look like moving forward. This was mostly to give them a general idea of who would be taking over the content teaching of their classes to help relieve some of their confusion and anxiety surrounding their schedules. I will be emailing each of you individually in the upcoming week to let you know who will be teaching their classes starting on January 4th.  I will be finishing out this month with them and get them through finals next week. It was sweet to see so many of them protest the fact that I couldn’t keep teaching them and do my new position (“You totally could do both, you’re just being lazy,” was my favorite!).

While this is an exciting time, I also know that it is a troubling time with so many changes that have already arisen in the past few months, and really since COVID, for our students, our staff, and our school community. Changes in leadership and staffing have resulted in a lot of growing pains

as we navigate similar issues seen in public education and other industries. While I don’t have all the answers, I do know this: the teachers and staff that are here are dedicated to the empowerment and success of your children and to the mission of our school. My charge in this new position will be to continue to cultivate the academic portion of the holistic model that Brehm has been known for for the past 40 years.

The hardest part of accepting this new position is my inability to continue with a full load of English Language Arts and Literature classes. Some of you may be worried about the impact of this transition in the middle of the school year and the changing of hands so to speak of your student’s reading and writing skill development. Please be assured that I am considering the implications of the changes and will match my students to the teachers that can deliver the instruction that the students in those classes need. Bradley and I began this process last week and made some decisions, but even throughout this weekend I am continuing to think through the changes being proposed to make sure that they will have positive educational impact. Once we have finalized the plans this week, I will be communicating those changes. If you have any questions or concerns moving forward please reach out and let me know. I am looking forward to continuing to work with each of you in this new capacity!
Happy Holidays!
Sincerely,
Courtney Vincent
Interim Director of Education