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A Letter from the New Director of the Student Success Program
Dear Students, Families, Colleagues, and Community Partners:
I hope this message finds you well. I write today with gratitude, excitement, and deep respect for the legacy and future of the Student Success Program at Burr and Burton Academy.
As you may know, I have recently been appointed Director of the Student Success Program, succeeding Jason Pergament, whose vision and leadership over the past 13 years have built a program that has touched and transformed countless lives. It is both a privilege and a deeply personal honor to step into this role.
This program is more than just professional work for me—it is a reflection of my own journey. In the early 1990s, I arrived at Burr and Burton through the LINK Program from Newark, New Jersey. I was a teenager full of potential but unsure how to access it. Thanks to the support of this school and the people who believed in me, I was able to envision—and begin building—a future that once felt out of reach. That journey led me to the University of Vermont, to graduate school in social work at Bryn Mawr, and into a career dedicated to supporting young people and families.
My path since BBA has been shaped by a career committed to uplifting underrepresented communities. I’ve held leadership roles in education, mental health, and social services—managing multi-million-dollar behavioral health programs, directing truancy interventions, and developing youth-centered systems of support from the ground up. Most recently, I’ve served as Dean of Students here at BBA while also supporting students as a co-teacher at times.
As I return to BBA not just as an alum, but as the incoming director of the very program that mirrors my own path, I carry both the memory of what this community made possible for me and the responsibility to make those possibilities real for a new generation of students.
Here are my Intentions and Commitments Moving Forward. I am committed to:
- Upholding the core mission of the Student Success Program: to provide targeted support, guidance, and opportunities that help young people grow into confident, capable, and caring young adults.
- Continuing all foundational elements of the program, including the Success Camp summer experience, the Success program’s academic classes, mentorship opportunities, Opportunity Grants, social events, senior trips, college and career exploration, and more.
- Enhancing the vision of the program by building stronger pathways for first-generation and underrepresented students, deepening relationships with families, and fostering student advocacy, independence, and leadership.
- Working in collaboration with Associate Director Anna Nicholson, Dean of Students Billy Canfield, and program consultant Jason Pergament to ensure a smooth, thoughtful, and community-centered transition.
This program has always been about more than academic success—it is about belonging, purpose, opportunity, and transformation. I look forward to working alongside you all—families, students, teachers, staff, community leaders, and supporters—as we continue to build on what has been and imagine what is still possible.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out. My door is open, and I welcome your ideas, concerns, and partnership.
With appreciation and purpose,
Terrell Williams
Director, Student Success Program
Burr and Burton Academy
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Burr and Burton Academy does not discriminate against any person or group on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), ancestry, national origin, place of birth, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, age, political affiliation or marital status in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, its programs and activities. Any person having inquiries concerning the school's compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI, Title IX, section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 or other federal or state nondiscrimination laws or regulations is directed to The Headmaster's Office, Burr and Burton Academy, Manchester, VT 05254. Burr and Burton complies with all applicable state and federal nondiscrimination statutes, including the Vermont Public Accommodations Act (9 V.S.A. Chapter 139), the Vermont Fair Employment Practices Act (21 V.S.A. Chapter 5, Subchapter 6) and Vermont State Board of Education rules 2226.6 and 2229.1.