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Alumni Profile: Full Circle with Abigail Betts ’92

ALUMNA STAFF MEMBER PARENTAbi gail Betts ’92 Full Circle with

Some of you may be familiar with Norwood’s Two Hat Club, a gathering of faculty and staff members who are also Norwood parents. Well, it looks like Norwood will need to up its game and establish a Four Hat Club just for Abigail Betts—Norwood alumna, former staff member, current staff member, and current parent! >

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Abigail rejoined Norwood this summer as director of development after 16 years working in the advancement office at her “other” alma mater, Holton-Arms. We’re thrilled to have this Norwood enthusiast back in The Nest, the place where she grew up and where she started her career in institutional advancement as database manager and development assistant back in 2003.

“I believe that Norwood was and still is the best foundation for a young person’s academic, social, and emotional growth.”

-abigail betts ’92, director of development

It’s been 30 years since you were a Norwood student and 16 years since you were a Norwood employee. What lured you back?

At this time last year, I had just applied my daughter for kindergarten. During the admission tour, my memories came flooding back. I have always held Norwood in special regard, but all was affirmed when, during the tour, so many students confidently looked me in the eye and asked if they could tell me about their work. It felt like home.

I loved my 16 years at Holton-Arms, particularly working with donors and overseeing the most recent seven-year comprehensive campaign that concluded June 30, 2022. I had no intention of leaving Holton—ever! But after attending the Accepted Parent Reception at Norwood in March, I immediately emailed the director of development to ask her to count me in as a volunteer for The Norwood Fund. She told me she was relocating and that her job would be posted the following week. I nearly fainted to think that returning to Norwood could be a possibility. Talk about a “pinch me” moment! So, here I am. I have been on campus since July and could not be happier!

What still feels like the Norwood you knew back in the 1980s and early 1990s?

Norwood remains a happy place of learning filled with art and music. I was thrilled to see that the morning handshake tradition lives on, as does morning chapel. After so many years, somehow the words to the chapel songs came flooding back—and the birthday blessing! There is something very special about coming together as a community to start the day. And some of my teachers are still here! Mr. Hollander, Mrs. Lostoski, Mr. McCune—it is an honor to work beside them.

I love walking into the Murray Arts Building. As a child, I’m sure I took for granted the natural light and the vast resources to expose us to all aspects of art: paper mache, printmaking, drawing, painting, sewing, and clay. The space is happy and takes me back to my beloved art classes with Ms. Kopper and Ms. Williams.

What feels different?

There is the wow factor of the Marriott Early Childhood Building and the expanse of the Middle School. I remember signing the I-beam during the impending construction of the Ewing Building. It felt like that was a big deal then, and I think about that moment every time I walk through the building. Another difference— in 2022, thanks to COVID, students can now choose whether to shake hands or to fist bump. I often wonder (with a laugh) how Mrs. Block or Mrs. Marsh would handle fistbumping the students!

What are some of your favorite Norwood memories from when you were a student?

I have wonderful memories of Mrs. Block. I can still picture her shoes, the pig hood ornament on her Volvo, and hear her voice first thing every morning. I think about how talented Mrs. Lutterman was with her creation of Living History. I can still sing the songs, which helped me with my historical knowledge in high school and college. I often wonder if we realized what a big deal these productions were. In 1987, Norwood School received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to develop three children’s musicals to make U.S. history come alive for other students. Mrs. Lutterman, who taught music at Norwood from 1975 to 1993, was the project director and composer.

As a smaller child, I recall running down the Norwood Hill with such speed it actually felt like I could fly. And I remember looking forward to seeing the holiday village created by librarians Mrs. Maples and Mrs. Schroder when they read The Polar Express to us.

I had three classmates (1992, you know who you are) who rhythmically recited/ rapped the poem Xanadu by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. They were allowed to present their artistic rendition one morning during

Abigail joins five other Norwood alumni who work at Norwood: Elena Lostoski ’12, Fourth Grade Teacher; Abigail; Mallory Polak ’03, Summit Director; Sandra Engle Gichner ’78, Latin Teacher; Jonathan Korns ’07, Pre-Kindergarten Assistant Teacher; and Beanie Sidey Burr ’73, Lower School Coordinator.

chapel. I never saw Mrs. Block laugh so hard. I still remember each line of the poem, and I challenge my classmates to see if they do too.

As Norwood’s new director of development, what are your main goals during your first year?

While Norwood is so familiar, I look forward to fully integrating back into the community, current and former. Three decades have passed since I graduated from sixth grade. I hope to engage fellow alumni and former community members to connect back to Norwood. The School continues to be cultivated by child-centered educators who truly know each student. I believe that Norwood was and still is the best foundation for a young person’s academic, social, and emotional growth.

I also look forward to implementing and supporting the rollout of the new strategic plan. The last strategic plan, which spanned 2016-2021, created a roadmap to increase endowment and to build the Marriott Early Childhood Building. I look forward to being a part of the many exciting things to happen during this next chapter.

And, of course, I am ready to meet and exceed our monetary and participation goals for The Norwood Fund, but I am going to need everyone’s help!

You’ve spent your entire career in independent schools. What do you like most about working in a school environment?

What’s not to love? Schools are communities of growth, perpetual learning, and joy. Since the moment I first stepped through the doors of the Steuart Building, I loved school. I loved the school day, the routine, the traditions, anticipation for holidays, special events, school spirit, snow days, breaks, summer, and matriculating to what’s next! As a grown-up, you are forced to “outgrow” little things that brought you joy as a child. Spending my life in independent schools, and two schools that I love deeply, has allowed me to savor that childhood excitement. At Holton, I felt like a perennial senior. Now at Norwood, I get to be a perennial kindergartner at heart.

Abigail and daughter Rosemary, Class of 2031, on the first day of school.

You’re also a new Norwood parent. What are you most excited about for Rosemary as she begins kindergarten at Norwood?

My office window overlooks the Steuart Courtyard (what I remember as the front circle). There are points during the day when I can hear Rosemary’s laugh. I look up from my desk and see her skipping and smiling. I hope she develops a love of learning, the desire to seek opportunity, and the appreciation that comes with being a Norwood student. I can already see Norwood’s guiding principle—how you lead your life matters—taking hold. After the first day of school, she thanked me and my husband, Jeff, for taking her to school and enrolling her at Norwood.

What is Rosemary most excited about?

According to our most recent after-school commute, Rosemary is most excited about “the way everyone is so kind to one another and art.”

Where can we find you when you’re not at Norwood?

Jeff, Rosemary, and I live in Silver Spring with our two rescue dogs, Maggie and Betty. A kindergartner and two active dogs keep us busy, but I relax through cooking, family time, trying new restaurants, walking, and best yet, retreating to Ocean City, Maryland, in any season and as often as possible.

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