Joe Iuliano's Blog

List of 20 news stories.

  • Is There a Doctor in the House?

    From second grade to AP English and MS Music to Constitutional Law—and throw in Growth Ed—Brimmer’s doctors diagnose, demonstrate, drill, direct, and educate (sorry, I ran out of d-words to complete the alliteration…). Like their compatriots in the ERs and health centers, our doctors analyze test results, operate in a theater, conduct clinics—e.g., in grammar, musical notation, citation, language, mathematics, and law among others—and have outstandingly effective desk side manner. Our doctors are talented.

  • À Votre Santé

    The end of this fifth week of school (I’m counting that bit before Labor Day) brings us to the official opening of our brand-spanking-new Guild Recreation & Wellness Center. While we have been physically occupying this freshly minted space for the past five weeks, we are formally cutting the ribbon and Grand Opening it on Friday and Saturday of this week. It’s time to celebrate this outstanding addition to our campus!

  • Opening Convocation Speech 2026

    "So, let’s get after it here like our book-smart founding fathers did before us--that is, let’s recommence, the reading, the writing, the discussion, the creativity, the problem solving that we do here in school and beyond."

  • The Vowels in Our Lives

    Since it is the start of a new school year, let’s go elementary in celebration of our littlest scholars at Brimmer and May. Most of us probably haven’t thought a lot about vowels—for ourselves, anyway—since we were first introduced to them in elementary school: a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y. As stand-alone letters they most often just make noises, short and long sounds, but then they can get put together too. 

  • Teaching is a Nobel Profession

    In mid-August MIT professor and Nobel Prize-Winning Economist Daron Acemoglu sat down with Harvard professor Michael Sandel at the Brattle Theater to discuss the ideas presented in his latest book, What Happened to Liberal Democracy: Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity. Acemoglu was knowledgeable and insightful on his topic and a range of others. A question from an audience member, a high school teacher, prompted an interesting discussion specifically surrounding the impact of AI on future student success.
  • Xoren Livingston '23, Elijah Kinney '23, Joe Iuliano, Kaylee Little '23, and Emma Guevara '23 at Endicott College's Second Round NCAA III Men's B-Ball Tournament Game.

    Brimmer Beyond the Walls

    Our students turn into alums, naturally, and we keep in touch with them and they come back to visit or join us at school sponsored events such as Homecoming and Alumni Day. Or they just drop in to say hello. It’s a bit difficult to do the same with them when we are out in the world because it’s kind of awkward to think to stop by a university and drop in on an alum in class.

  • Teachable Moments

    ‘A teachable moment’ is a phrase familiar to most, I think. An expanded definition can be helpful, however, and teacher Beth Lewis offers this: “A teachable moment is an unplanned opportunity that arises in the classroom where a teacher has a chance to offer insight to his or her students.

  • Poles Together

    The 2024-2025 school year was a Winterim trip wonderland with excursions domestic and foreign for students in Grades 7-12. From New York to Panama to Italy, Brimmer students and faculty, together—the community of the School—explored the world that many had previously studied or imagined.
  • An Upper School student at work

    True or False?

    True or False: We live in a post-truth world. As true-false questions go, this is not well-constructed because it is a subjective statement, not an objective one. But it does make me think, which, as an educator, is what it’s all about for students in our classrooms.
  • Brimmer Upper School students at work

    From a Zero Sum to a Win-Win Educational Mindset

    Back in mid-August, Tom Keene of Bloomberg Surveillance, had a conversation with a guest analyst about the zero sum approach that seems to guide the operating rules and goals of our current business and geopolitical environments. Their brief discussion started me thinking about a zero sum conceptualization in education. 

  • Class of 2025 by the Numbers & Then Some

    Through its educational aesthetic, applied during the past 1 to 13 years, depending on the grade of enrollment, for the Class of 2025, Brimmer has been preparing the canvas, choosing the colors, and arcing its paint brush in purposeful paths to create a tableau that is personalized, student-centered, and mission driven for our 45 graduates and 350 PK-12 students.

  • Going Global, in a Nutshell

    Travel is on my mind, as both the domestic Middle School trips and the Upper School Winterim excursions launch this weekend or early next week—we are ‘getting out of the house’ for some exciting experiential learning and life adventures.

  • Goal Setting — De Mieux, En Mieux.

    Some goals are phrased as action statements while others are structured in the form of a question. Citing the end product and consideration of how to get there—the steps in the process—are both kickstarters for a reflective, action-oriented process to improve, grow, build, and achieve in one’s work.

  • Authentic Learning. Bold Thinking. Compassionate Community.

    During Opening Convocation, our school leaders provided insight into the pursuit of personal and communal goals and urged students to be accomplished scholars, brave thinkers, and caring citizens.

  • ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ Again

    Last Friday, I stood on the stage under the big top tent and congratulated the 35 graduates in the Class of 2024 as we launched them on a exploration mission of their own—to seek out bold new academic and social worlds in college and in the world.

  • Critical Thinking in the Classroom

    My final individual Learning Walk of the school year had a different focus; most often, I visit a class to observe the teacher, but on these visits I went specifically to observe student thinking.

  • The Circle of College Application Life

    Here in New England at this time of year, we live the belief that, “if March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb.” However, the reality is often that March provides considerable roaring at both ends of the month and if we’re lucky the lamb shows up sometime not too much later. Baaa…
  • Upper School Students at MIT's Model UN

    Brimmer Students Model Statecraft at Model UN Conferences

    Model UN is a successful enterprise, and Brimmer and May students are living proof of that. While the School has offered this activity for a few decades now, we have a stable of self-motivated, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic Model UN stalwarts in the Upper School, and this year the Middle School introduced Model UN to its students.
  • Getty Images. GETTY

    Some Rough Thoughts on Learning in the 21st Century

    The NIH—what, the National Institute of Health offers insight on learning? Go figure (but be sure to choose one of the learning methods below. And yes, NIH does offer insights into the science of teaching…so here we go.

  • AI or JI?

    As a rule, when writing for Brimmer’s weekly Bulletin, I try to limit the number of “I”s present in the text. However, with this piece, I am going to break that rule in a brief discourse on my feelings about AI.

    • Joe Iuliano

      Assistant Head of Academic Affairs

Brimmer and May School

69 Middlesex Road
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
617-566-7462
As an inclusive private school community, Brimmer welcomes students who will increase the diversity of our school. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, or any other characteristic protected from discrimination under state or federal law, in the administration of our educational policies, admissions practices, financial aid decisions, and athletic and other school-administered programs.