At Browning, Boys Are Truly Seen and Known
A Kindergarten family shares why Browning was the right choice for their son.
January 2024
Michelle Vargo and Bonnie Thurston joined the Browning community this year, enrolling their son Jasper ’36 in Kindergarten. The mothers were interviewed jointly about their son’s Lower School experience, how welcomed they have felt and why others may want to set aside their preconceptions about boys’ schools.
We have a daughter in sixth grade, and we were going through the school search process for both of our children at the same time. While visiting a girls’ school for our daughter, we were told about Browning. Around the same time, we heard about Browning from our son’s friend’s family.
It was the only boys’ school we considered for our son. We were initially looking exclusively at co-ed schools for him but had heard such great things about Browning that we had to learn more. When we walked in, any preconceived notions we may have had about what a boys’ school would be like evaporated. We walked through the Red Doors into a place of warmth, kindness, and respect. Our tour was led by a longtime Browning parent, and while we were impressed with the facilities, we were more impressed with the interactions we witnessed between students, and between students and faculty.
Michelle drops off her son, Jasper, on the first day of school.
Michelle and Bonnie with Assistant Head of School Danielle Passno and her wife, Julia, at the New Parents Dinner.
We attended a few virtual programs that gave us a better sense of the school and the community, and we stayed in regular contact with Kelly West, whose warmth and expertise made the process very pleasant. Our son benefited from the Encore summer program because he became more familiar with Browning and that helped us to prepare him for the transition to Kindergarten. We also had some direct outreach from a member of the Browning PA, who offered insights and answered questions (and continues to do so today!). His outreach was invaluable.
The Browning community does a great job of making families feel welcome immediately. The New Parent Dinner provided an opportunity to engage with so many other parents who were starting their Browning journeys at the same time. There have been numerous coffee hours on a variety of topics that offer new families a chance to meet each other as well as faculty and staff. Lower School Family Day and the Book Fair offered our whole family a chance to play games and mingle with other members of the community (our daughter says she’ll be back every year). The most important thing, though, is that Browning prioritizes communication. Our class reps send out weekly emails to remind us of upcoming events. Teachers send weekly recap emails and photos and are always available to answer questions.
Our son is having an amazing Kindergarten experience. He loves Browning and is happy to go to school every day. His brilliant teachers make learning fun and we have witnessed his growth in such a short time. There is a real sense of belonging at Browning and our son, though he may not have the words for it, feels it already. He shakes hands with Dr. Botti and other faculty when he walks in the door every morning and shakes hands with his teachers as he says goodbye each day. He has Grade 4 buddies whom he looks up to. When he realized that Browning goes all the way through Grade 12, he got very excited. He never wants to leave.
In one of the early Zoom meetings during the admissions process, Assistant Head of School Danielle Passno said that Browning “leads with love.” Older boys take classes on modern masculinity and talk about vulnerability. At Browning, boys are truly seen and known.
