From David's Desk, reprinting his remarks from Back to School Night.
I’d like you to think about a teacher who had a positive impact on you. How old were you when you met that teacher? What do you remember about them? How did they change you? Did you ever tell that teacher they made a difference in your life? Have you stayed in touch?
We have an exceptional faculty. Our teachers speak multiple languages, have diverse backgrounds, and are experts in child development and growth. Even the newest teachers see many children every day, and they quickly learn about their subtle differences, ways to reach them, and how to support their learning.
As a parent, I know my own daughter well, but I’ve also taught hundreds and hundreds of kids over the years. This is what that experience has taught me: I know Gracie. I love her. I know what she’s like around me. But I’ve come to value the perspective of her teachers, who see her as a separate person. All day, every day, they see her as an independent actor. Who she is with them and with her classmates is different from who she is with me.
Trust your child’s teachers. See them as partners. Listen to them and see what you can learn from them. At the end of the day, you know your child. But the separate perspective that a teacher brings will help you help your kids become the best version of themselves.
Go back to that teacher I asked you to recall. I suspect that they treated you differently than your family. That difference is the space where the magic of the teacher-student relationship happens. Ultimately, Torit teachers and parents are partners in raising good humans. It’s magical work.
So let me tell you about a few of my teachers:
My late parents, a military engineer and an artist. From my father I learned structure and order, compassion from my mother. My grandmother, Etta, born in 1889. She seemed ancient when I knew her, a link to a different time and place. I’m glad I was influenced by people with old fashioned values that have stood the test of time. Respect, manners, courtesy, hard work.
Anne Lane, my 2nd Grade teacher at Pace Academy in Atlanta, Georgia, where I was born and raised. Miss Lane exuded warmth and love of learning. And Ricks Carson, my 10th Grade English teacher, whose command of Hamlet and passion for poetry and creative writing allowed me to first think of myself as a writer. Almost 40 years later, we’re still in touch.
Rich Wolfson, Middlebury College physics professor, and John Elder, Middlebury English professor, with whom I was just on a webinar this past Tuesday. Both loved their subjects so thoroughly that I couldn't help but love them, too. John encouraged my further study, and I went on to earn a master’s at Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School of English. Part serious study of texts, part summer camp for English teachers, Bread Loaf gave me a graduate degree as well as an introduction to Anna Catone, to whom I’ve been married for almost 25 years.
When I started my first teaching job, it was at Chewonki’s Maine Coast Semester, a one semester environmental studies program for 11th graders. Scott Andrews was the director. He became a mentor and dear friend. Everything I learned about being a head of school, I learned from Scott: community, the value of shared work, and intellectual spirit. My students and colleagues taught me how to use resources beyond the classroom in exciting ways that made learning real and pushed their skills. More on that in a moment.
After five years, back down to Atlanta and The Westminster Schools, a nominally Christian school where I was the first Jewish teacher. The controversy that led to my hire was a big deal: front page news in Atlanta, articles in The New York Times. I learned about what it meant to be the first and only. I also learned about respect for differences.
Then two years in NYC at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, where docents who were Holocaust survivors taught me about real courage. They were extraordinary teachers whose very lives were the lessons.
Out to Pittsburgh and Shady Side Academy for eight years. A science teacher, Bill Diehl, taught me about making sure students felt known and needed. And Jeff Suzik taught me about what it means to be a serious scholar. I ran the boarding program and later PK-12 summer programs on three campuses plus a public performing arts center.
From there, back to New York to lead a start-up in 2008 that was to be a hands-on, experiential high school in Greenwich Village. Great idea, terrible timing. The recession wiped it out before we could launch. I took away lessons in prioritizing and creativity and managing expectations. Also what it felt like to actually be in The New York Times and caught up in various gossip columns with celebrities. Not my preferred environment.
Seven years as Assistant Head of Fay School in Southborough, MA. America’s oldest junior boarding school. I hired over 100 teachers in my time there. The recipe for success? Hire happy people who love kids and their subject area and get along well with colleagues. Pretty simple; vitally important.
Three years rebuilding Glen Urquhart School in Beverly. A year trying educational consulting. Then the pandemic, a mid-career master’s at Harvard, where I still help teach a class, then two years as Assistant Head of Kingsley Montessori in Back Bay.
Kingsley is 85 years old and three times Torit’s size, it’s one model for us, except Kingsley, like Torit, ends in 6th grade, which leads me to dream about a Torit Middle School that would take us through 8th grade and allow Torit students to apply as 9th graders to BB&N, Milton, Nobles, Dexter, Beaver, and a host of other day and boarding schools. I’d love to draw on my experiences in Maine and New York to create a unique, hands-on, authentic program for a select group of middle schoolers and get them out into Boston every day. It won’t happen overnight, but I hope many of you will consider a long run at Torit that might bring your students to an 8th grade graduation here someday. We can dream, right?
Let me take us back to teachers. Teachers make a school. They’re magic makers for children. They give children a sense of what it means to love learning, follow passions, get along with others, and be independent. Moms and dads and grandparents: you’ll always be their first teachers. But take a deep breath, learn with us about who these potential-filled, small humans are and who they might be. Keep the long view in mind. Along the way, we’ll “open doors” for your children to productive and meaningful lives.