Director's Message Director's Letter, April 2020 (excerpt - Annual Report)

Dear Friends:

(We are pleased to present Overbrook School for the Blind’s Annual Report.) Year after year, Overbrook School for the Blind has celebrated major achievements of the students and families we serve, as well as our organization overall. The fiscal year 2018-2019 was no exception. This year marked Overbrook School for the Blind’s 187th year of service for children with visual impairments and their families.

We celebrated the opening of the new M. Christine Murphy Horticulture Education Center, launched an expanded and re-designed website, set in motion a student-run enterprise, and marked the 10th anniversary of the Kappen Aquatic Center, which continues to be state-of-the-art to this day.

As we look back on the 2018-2019 school year, it is clear that in partnership with you, our supporters, we have experienced growth and progress on our campus and in our classrooms. Your support has allowed us to extend our reach in promoting student well-being and engagement with learning to more schools and families in our region. On behalf of those we serve, thank you for your commitment to helping transform the lives of students with vision loss. Sincerely,

Todd Reeves, Executive Director

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Director's Message Director's Letter, November 2019 (excerpt / Fall Towers, 2019)

Dear Friends:

If all goes as planned, you will be reading this edition of Towers just as
I am returning from an adventure of a lifetime, a climb up magnificent
Mount Kilimanjaro.

As I’ve shared with our students, Mt. Kilimanjaro is one of the Seven
Summits, comprised of the highest peak on each continent. It’s pretty
common knowledge that Kilimanjaro is the most manageable of the
seven, though it’s by no means a “walk in the park”.

When I was a high school student in Oregon, I was impacted by reading
Henry David Thoreau, who trekked through the woods with enthusiasm:
“If one advances confidently in the direction of [his or her] dreams, and
endeavors to live the life which [she or he] has imagined, [he or she] will
meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

Each of us has mountains in front of us that are worth climbing even
if success is not guaranteed. I hope as you read through this issue of
Towers, you’ll recognize the mountains our students overcome on a daily
basis that make the Roof of Africa seem low in comparison and inspire
the rest of us. Our Overbrook community is ever stronger because of
people who read this publication and choose to act in support of our
students. Because of that, in large measure, our students continue to
achieve success unexpected in common hours.

Kind regards,
Todd Reeves
Executive Director and CEO

I invite you to get to know our school, to get to know our exceptional students, our parents, our staff, our community and the impact we have every day in Philadelphia and around the world.