Alumni Working in Independent Schools Share Their Stories

Kelly: In the Admissions Office specifically, we have the opportunity to meet a number of new families each year. I really enjoy walking families through the application process and getting to know them along the way. Internally on campus, I love the opportunity to interact with and support students. Whether it’s something fun like a faculty-student Wiffle ball game, or something more serious like working through conflict on the basketball team, there are so many moments throughout the school year that inevitably impact and shape the students we work with on a day-to-day basis.

Barnett: There are so many reasons I enjoy working in the independent-school environment! For me, on top of growing and serving professionally, I have the opportunity to contribute to my school community through coaching and mentoring students, which blesses me tremendously and adds relational depth to my “desk job.” Plus, what's not to like about having a spring break?!

Schwarz: I most enjoy time with students and time invested in building relationships with colleagues — especially those with whom I share certain identities or purposes. As a teacher, I experience so much stimulation every day, lots of ups and downs. I notice that those ups have a pattern. For example, whenever my students engage in a lesson, have a lively discussion or visibly come to understand some concept, I leave the classroom beaming. To see 13- and 14-year-olds so meaningfully engage with the most daunting topics of our time (like police brutality, mass incarceration, redlining, immigration policies, environmental justice, etc.) is inspiring. I can’t stop thinking, “Wow, I wish I was as far along as they are now when I was in eighth grade,” and that’s the best feeling for a teacher! I often leave BRIDGE (Building Real Intercultural Dialogue to Generate Engagement) club and BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and People of Color] affinity sessions feeling happy and inspired by our youth.

Kelly: My professional role and my time as a student are directly connected. This is true in many small ways but especially true in one significant way: I was the beneficiary of incredibly positive and influential teachers and coaches as a student at Ravenscroft. I can look back at specific moments in my journey as a student and young man and see the ways in which the adults around me were encouraging or guiding me toward fulfilling my potential. Looking back at those moments constantly reminds me in my current role how important it is to invest in students and encourage them to reach their own potential.

Barnett: While Ravenscroft laid an incredibly firm academic foundation for me, I am also thoroughly convinced that my teachers and coaches cared about me as a person. They gave me opportunities to identify my gifts and talents and challenged me to use them in all areas of my life — my family, faith, character, academics and all the “extras.” In my professional role, more than I use my knowledge of calculus or U.S. history, I use my ability to communicate in an articulate manner, problem solve and draw connections. Ravenscroft nurtured those life skills.

Schwarz: With my being 23 years old, high school doesn’t feel that long ago. And my middle school years were emotionally rough at home, so I vividly remember being that age too; I remember how school was like my happy escape from home at that age and how I invested all of myself into school. I see our students, especially girls and students of color, and I wonder if they are experiencing what I did when I was their age. I want to be that teacher to look out for them and care about them the way I needed when I was their age. I am closer in age and mentality to the students on this campus than the faculty, so that informs my perspective and philosophy as an admin and a teacher. While my first year as a teacher at an independent school has been shocking, it also hasn’t been — because the school is so similar to Ravenscroft in my eyes. There are certain aspects of independent school culture that I already understood, having attended one myself, and that helped me to come in knowing to a degree how the system worked. I constantly am reminded of my Ravenscroft years throughout the course of my job.

Kelly: One challenge that I believe independent schools are doing a great job of addressing is teaching students how to learn based on their individual needs. The content is important to master, but as students continue to progress to college and eventually to the professional world, having a curious mind that knows how to learn new material is an incredible tool.

Barnett: Independent schools are more aggressively seeking to protect and enhance the mental health of students. Today’s students, high schoolers especially, are more likely to be anxious or depressed, and I am encouraged when I see Ravenscroft and other schools prioritize addressing those issues through social-emotional curriculum and student-life programming.

Schwarz: The past year in education has been heavily impacted by the pandemic. My school, and many other independent schools, have been able to continue in-person learning. This is, of course, because of the funds independent schools have to pour into HVAC system maintenance, tons of sanitary supplies, new furniture that lends itself to distance learning, plenty of outdoor space for eating meals, etc. Many in our community were worried about the safety of in-person learning, but as time went on I felt that we were safe (as a result of our privilege to be) and that our students hugely benefited from this in-person choice. After spending a year with my students, it is obvious how traumatizing this pandemic has been for them. My students made a podcast about what it’s been like to be an eighth-grader during the past year, and in it they discuss how grateful they have become for the things they used to take for granted — like seeing friends, playing sports and learning in a classroom. They discussed the challenges to their mental health and social development they have experienced due to COVID-19. I am so happy that my school and others have been able to safely offer in-person learning.