9 minute read
The Legacy of Leta
Committed. Wise. Helpful. Generous. Empathetic.
These are just a handful of words that spring to mind when colleagues think of Leta Kniffin, reading specialist at Nashoba Brooks School. Admired for her creativity and patience, Leta is known for being both an eager collaborator and a humble, yet masterful, teacher and mentor.
As our School community celebrates Leta’s accomplishments and wishes her the best in retirement, this much is clear to all: Leta’s legacy will be felt for generations to come.
“She is a remarkable colleague—always generous of her time and one of the best student advocates!” exclaims Kirsta Davey, literacy specialist. Jane O’Connor, former assistant head of Lower School, agrees: “Leta Kniffin is, simply put, one of the best teachers I have ever had the honor of working with.”
“When I started at Nashoba Brooks, I sat down with the previous assistant head of school, Neal Brown, and he ran through the list of faculty, their roles, and their responsibilities,” recalls Head of School Danielle Heard. “When we reached Leta’s name on the list, he said, ‘Leta Kniffin, she’s a miracle worker.’”
Leta arrived at Nashoba Brooks 17 years ago, and how fortunate we are that she did. Before stepping through our School doors, Leta amassed several years of invaluable experience in a variety of educational settings—from working with low-income populations and mentally ill students in New York City to running a private practice and consulting with public schools in Massachusetts. A psychology major while at Boston University, Leta started her career in education when she moved to New York after graduation.
Her first teaching job was in a Head Start program at Addie Mae Collins in Harlem, a childcare center named after one of the four teenage African American victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing in Birmingham, Alabama on September 15, 1963. After five years at Addie Mae Collins, Leta worked at Rockefeller University and then earned her master’s at New York University in special education, with an emphasis on emotional needs.
Eventually, Leta made her way back to Boston, where she recognized that there had been something missing in her previous jobs. “Working on emotional needs but not focusing on learning bothered me,” she admitted. This realization prompted Leta to enroll in Orton-Gillingham training at Massachusetts General Hospital—when she was six months pregnant! Leta worked for several years in private practice and at Carroll School in Lincoln, until her daughter went off to college. At that point, Leta took a job at the Institution for Learning and Development in Lexington, where she stayed for three years before coming to interview at Nashoba Brooks School in 2003.
A good friend recommended that Leta check out the School. “At the interview, one of the teachers asked my opinion of whole language,” recalls Leta. “I said, ’Well, it doesn’t work with my children.’” This signature candor is just one of many reasons why Leta became so beloved by her colleagues.
“She does not sugar coat, but gets right to the heart of a situation and helps you to come up with real time, specific solutions,” says Lizbie Porter, Grade 2 teacher. “She always has a suggestion about what reading program or lesson will be most helpful for a child. She brings clarity to the purpose of a lesson, so that we are able to teach directly to a specific skill.”
In fact, during her many years at Nashoba Brooks, Leta reimagined the way we think about reading. “When I first went to Nashoba Brooks, Leta notes, “Teachers weren’t using direct instruction of phonemic awareness.” Leta championed the change from whole language to direct instruction and also created a progressive spelling program for Grades 1, 2, and 3.
Leta’s commitment to continuous growth and improvement is highlighted in her observation, “Education is kind of like a seesaw. We see a problem, [like learning to read], and we find a solution, which we think is the greatest thing...until we learn new information, and realize this is not actually the greatest thing.” The seesaw goes up and down, best practices shift, and educators need to adapt.
One of Leta’s many strengths is her ability to adapt, and to modify lessons to meet each child’s unique needs. “A master at knowing each child in her group, Leta spends countless hours preparing for lessons, and adapting the lesson so it resonates with every student,” praises Ms. O’Connor. “She works with patience, humor, and care, and feels such delight when she sees a child’s self confidence blossom. When Leta describes a child’s effort and progress you can often detect tears of tremendous joy and a sense of pride in her eyes—not for herself—but for the student. Leta believes in every child, and they know that. Every student that walks in her classroom feels a sense of belonging.”
Leta also recognizes the importance of multiple, integrated approaches to problem-solving. This superpower became evident during a major shift in the Lower School reading program for Grades 1, 2, and 3 shortly after she arrived at Nashoba Brooks School. Instead of pulling struggling readers aside for extra instruction, the change allowed Leta to run a concurrent reading group, thereby reducing the stigma for students who were struggling. “I was just another reading group!” she recalls, clearly happy to have created a more inclusive experience for her students.
Leta is quick to point out, however, that it was not an overnight success. “Any change in a school is challenging. It wasn’t easy and took a year to put everybody on the same page, but it was huge. It made such a big difference!” Over the years, Leta has continued to make a difference at Nashoba Brooks School. Her many significant contributions have enriched the lives of countless students, families, and colleagues.
As Mathematics Specialist and Lower School Reading Specialist Jenny Rutherford observes, “Leta is the type of teacher you wish you had, and she’s the person former students [often recall] as the teacher who changed their life. Leta pours her heart into each and every child she works with and continues to refine her practice despite being an expert in her field. Everything she does is
personal and purposeful in a way that creates a feeling of comfort and belonging for her students, from designing unique binders, writing personal stories for them to read, and tweaking lessons that she’s taught a million times.”
“Her door is always open and in addition to helping our daughters, Leta has been a source of reassurance to us as parents,” writes parent Sacha Gregory P’20. “Over the ten years of knowing Leta, she has always believed in our girls and they both have thrived and flourished.” Past parent and former trustee Kiki Shilling PTG’07 P’10 ’17 fondly remembers how Leta got through to her son, as well, and taught him how to read: “I had been working with Reid every night before bed reading the Bob books. I was crushed that I could not reach him in the right way...Leta took him under her wing and not only showed him love but also beautifully preserved his self-esteem to help him persevere when he struggled.”
There are countless stories like these from families and colleagues alike, which highlight Leta’s extraordinary knack for understanding each student’s individual needs—and her ability to make even the most difficult task enjoyable. “Leta is notorious for creating games and making learning fun for students who may find reading challenging, said Ms. Davey. “She connects with each of her students to understand their unique learning profiles and ways to support them best.” Agrees Ms. Porter, “She always puts the student first and recognizes that each child has different needs and challenges. She meets them where they are, finds something that each child is good at, and builds on that strength.”
Former Head of School Kay Cowan commends Leta for her “combination of gentle prodding and an enviable backpack of highly developed skills”—both of which have helped students “break the code.” According to Ms. Cowan, “Leta creates a safe place to risk, to make mistakes, to learn and ultimately to achieve success.” From Ms. Heard’s perspective, “One of the most important things that Leta teaches students is how to believe in themselves. Students leave Leta’s class with clarity about how they learn best, confidence in their ability to be resilient, and a joyful embrace of the grit and growth that comes with hard work.”
For Leta, the best part of her job is “seeing the children experiencing success.” There’s such “incredible empowerment” in learning how to read, she says, and she enjoys watching students grow “stronger as each year progresses.” At Nashoba Brooks, she believes: “You really see the power and growth.” According to Leta,“Children learn at a young age that they have to work harder; if they work hard, they can achieve.” She thinks children have a better chance of thriving in a smaller school and notes that “the early years are so crucial.” Leta loves working with younger children because they are “so eager and have no cynicism.” “They learn empathy early on,” she observes, then adds: “The best leaders have empathy.”
Throughout Leta’s tenure at the School, she has been a humble and empathetic leader. Not only does she teach our youngest students how to read, but she also teaches them how to lead by example. Kindness and courage are two themes Leta loves to incorporate into her lessons.
Leta’s colleagues are grateful for the care and compassion she has shown them throughout the years. Hardworking and invested, Leta has spent many hours preparing lessons to help both students and teachers and she is always willing to share what she learned. “Leta is always up for collaborating, and is always willing to create and share amazing curriculum resources,” remarks Ms. Porter enthusiastically. “She would go above and beyond to benefit the team and seemed to approach all curriculums with the idea that anyone could use it as a resource.” Ms. Davey reflects fondly. “She will be missed equally by her colleagues and her students.”
In her next chapter, Leta plans to spend time with her husband and two labradoodles, as well her children and grandchildren who reside in Baltimore and St. Louis. She has been running six days a week for 50 years, so she plans to keep up with that, too! “I’ll probably continue to tutor, volunteer more, and do agility with the dogs,” Leta adds, then says with a laugh: “I get along best with animals and children!”
Perhaps Ms. O’Connor sums it up best: “As a child, learning to read felt like a Herculean effort for me. What I know is that if I had been lucky enough to have Leta as my reading teacher, she could have made Dick and Jane come alive like nobody’s business. Her impact will be felt for generations to come.”
