FACULTY
Teachers and Leaders BETTER BY DESIGN “There are some challenging conversations to be had with students, but those are often the most rewarding ones. In the the cry line at graduation there is inevitably the student who was in my office despairing in tears. They have some really tough moments and end up profoundly changed.” In September 2021, Jarratt Clarke began her second year as the assistant head of school for academics, a newly designed role in 2020 as Kathy Havard, longtime dean of faculty, returned full-time to the classroom. Previously, Ms. Havard oversaw all hiring and faculty development as well as the academic program—her plate was overflowing, especially as Millbrook’s enrollment grew over the past decade. In 2019-2020 Millbrook thoughtfully reexamined the structure of the academic office. Jasper Turner was hired as Millbrook’s new dean of faculty to focus entirely on hiring the best faculty and overseeing professional development. Ms. Clarke assumed overall administrative responsibility for the academic program. In her first year, she helped to launch a new academic schedule informed by brain science and developed by a faculty committee over the prior two years. Her efforts then shifted squarely to ensuring that Millbrook could offer our academic program in a pandemic, leaving little time to think about more significant programmatic changes. As our current classroom experience is far closer to normal, Ms. Clarke is beginning to consider the future of the academic program. “I am excited to have the time and the personnel to be thoughtful about what are we doing well and where might we improve. We have a great group of people—both in the academic office and more broadly with department heads and teachers—to figure out the best way to go about it. Working through the past year’s challenges with this group has shown me how resilient, thoughtful, creative, and hard-working they all are. I am thrilled for the opportunity to reflect on what we do well and to make changes, as needed, moving forward.”
ANNUAL REPORT 2020-2021
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