Our 2023 Honorees:

Ellen Cole (Spirit of Ancona Award)

Ellen Cole taught at the Ancona School for 40th years; this was a remarkable achievement. Ellen Cole was the physical embodiment of the spirit of Ancona, a person who represented the best parts of who we are, and who we aspire to be. At this moment, words fall short of expressing the admiration and love we feel for a teacher, friend, and person who lived what she taught her students. A masterful educator, Ellen taught and modeled the art of peace Simply sharing her space made us better, kinder, wiser.

Ellen has had a tremendous career. She was responsible for educating generations of students who are now doing incredible things because of her stewardship and care. Perhaps even more remarkable are the generations of parents whom she taught as well. Parents who were often, and for the very first time, separating from their children, entrusting their little ones to Ellen. Ellen who taught so many young parents how to care for and raise their children In her time at Ancona, including in the last few years, she was nominated for countless awards which she declined to receive because of her humility. For Ellen, it was never about her, but about her work with children.

There is no doubt that we lost a brilliant and luminous light yesterday evening, though her impact will never be forgotten.

We are mourning a loss like no other, and we recognize this news will impact our students both those who are here now and those who have long since graduated We are sharing this news with you, our parents, so that you can talk with your children today when they return home from school. It is important to answer their questions as best you can and to allow them the space they need to process their feelings. Children process loss in a variety of ways, so we ask that you create a safe space for those feelings and questions to emerge.

We will bring our students and faculty together for an all-school assembly to remember Ellen in the near future. Individual classrooms may also choose to process as a group. We will celebrate her work and life and mourn together. It is possible that some of our older students learned about Ellen’s passing through social media. We will work with students on a case by case basis, but will not be speaking about her passing until after parents have had the opportunity to speak with their children today, after school.

We have curated a set of resources to refer to as you and your children work to process this news in the days and weeks ahead.

Furthermore, Tony Gleason, Director of Counseling and Family Supports, and his interns will hold office hours during which they will be available in 15-minuteincrements to parents and students alike who need some extra support during this time. For students who are working from home, we will have virtual meeting times set up via Zoom, this will be shared by those students' teachers.

Ellen’s family has shared with me that once her final resting arrangements have been made, those details will be shared with us. We will pass that information along once we have it.

Ellen lives on in each of us. I would like to believe that each time we choose peace, choose kindness, choose to care we are channeling our friend, our colleague, our teacher––Ellen Cole.