A Letter from Gabe Burnstein, Head of School
In January of 2022, my phone rang.
“Charles River School just posted their Head of School position,” said a friend on the other end of the line. “It is perfect for you.”
Admittedly, I was skeptical. I wasn’t looking for a new job, and I did not know much about CRS. I had never heard of Dover, and Rebecca, our children, and I were happy where we were. But my friend was relentless and kept pushing, and finally, we decided to check out CRS. We even got caught playing on the playground by Kat Whitten on a chilly Saturday morning over Spring Break.
Like so many members of our community, I, too, first learned about CRS through word-of-mouth before falling in love with our special school. Every day, I get to see 186 reasons why this was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, as our Otters leap out of their cars and run into school. You could pull out of our driveway and drive 500 miles in any direction and you would have a hard time finding a collection of four to fourteen-year-olds who love learning and care for one another like our students do each day. And we have so many community members to thank for our students because so often it has been your recommendations that inspired someone else to bring their children to Old Meadow Road.
With the changing leaves, each fall begins a new admissions cycle; we have hosted many prospective families on campus already this past October. Our Touch-a-Truck event on Sunday, October 20th and our epic CRS Fair on Saturday, October 26th brought so much joy and so many new families to campus thanks to your recommendations. As the temperatures dip, our admissions work heats up as Sarah Wooten and Hannah Sokol prepare to add next year’s outstanding group of students and families to our community.
I believe that we are all in the admissions department at CRS. So here’s the group project: continue wearing your CRS gear proudly out in the world and encouraging families to take a look at CRS this fall. And don’t hesitate to reach out to Sarah and Hannah along the way.
And remember to call and thank those who first introduced you to CRS. In fact, I’m going to call my friend to thank her now!
In partnership,
Gabe