Tribute to Anne Tuohy

Thank You

Ms. Tuohy

In the early 1990s, when Patty Brickley invited Anne Tuohy to an open house for a young school that had made its home in rented rooms on West 100th Street, little did she know the impact that simple gesture would have.

Patty was a friend of Anne’s from graduate school, and the open house was for Parkside. Having worked in a variety of early childhood education settings, including a daycare center, two therapeutic nurseries and the Child Life Program at Bellevue Hospital, Anne knew the power of relationships as a catalyst for development, and she recognized something special about Parkside right away. At the open house where she met Parkside’s founders Leslie Thorne, Albina Miller and Tom Casey, she says, “I was struck by their energy and sense of mission, and by their courage.” Some months later, Leslie and Albina invited Anne to meet with them to talk about the possibility of consulting at Parkside. Leslie recalls, “We felt that Anne was someone who we could forge a strong alliance with and together build strong relationships with parents and children. We found her to be wise, gentle, and she always helped us develop a deeper understanding of what children’s behavior was communicating. She was (and continues to be) someone one could feel safely vulnerable with. And as new heads of school, and babes in the woods ourselves, it was comforting to go to her in need of a new perspective without worrying that her own opinions and ideas would carve out a path, merely gently steer it.”

Anne’s passion for working intensively with children who benefitted from having extra support fit perfectly with Parkside’s vision for an individualized, whole-child approach to special education. By the time Parkside moved into its current home on West 74th Street in 1993, Anne had transitioned from her consulting role to being a full-time member of the Parkside team.

She recalls a sense of excitement about beginning her new role, but felt nervous, too, about all the unknowns. The social work department consisted of Anne and just one intern at the time, and they set out to build the program that we so cherish today.

“The first holiday party was a revelation. The building was jumping. Our students’ excitement and delight – especially about sharing their world at school with their families – was palpable. The children’s pride and sense of ownership of their school was unlike anything I had experienced before,” Anne recalls.

With her background in child development, Anne led Parkside’s social work department through years of growth. Working collaboratively, Parkside social workers created a unique therapeutic model, one that encompasses many ways of working with children and parents in response to their specific needs. Their model includes individual play-based therapy and small socialization groups, whole-class social/ emotional learning groups, crisis intervention, parent support groups, body safety and internet safety programs and the Counselor in Training program. Ms. Tuohy administered the department with keen sensitivity, and a caring demeanor that has become her signature in the halls of our school.

Former Parkside teacher Brad Caliman beautifully reflects the sentiments of many staff: “Anne’s teaching through example of respect and validation of students’ emotions and viewpoints has been the cornerstone for my own teaching pedagogy.” Parents, like John and Erin Dalton, treasure Ms. Tuohy’s warm, caring nature and her ability to recognize and develop their daughter’s social and emotional strengths even during challenging times. They note that although Anne was their daughter’s therapist, her guidance benefitted their entire family. Alumna Marlena Liu ‘16 recalls, “I still remember when we played doctor together. I remember when [Ms. Tuohy] helped me figure out how I feel, and when she helped me with body safety.”

Play therapy is at the heart of Parkside’s model because of the foundation that Anne built and the team she assembled as more social workers were hired to meet students’ needs and Individualized Education Plan (IEP) mandates. In 27 years, Parkside has employed just eleven social workers (Sara Jamison, Laura Olanoff, Rachel Sosland, Rick Alston, Michelle Landau, Diane Zeitlin, Nanette Greenberg, Norianna Cohen Weiler, Miho Murashima and Adaora Achufusi), each bringing their own unique ideas and approaches to the department. “Ours has been a relatively small band of comrades with very little turnover… we share a rare, rich history,” Anne says. Anne’s social work “comrades” see her as the remarkably insightful and astute clinician that she is and know that they are extraordinarily privileged to have had these years with Anne at the helm.

As Parkside’s social work program grew, so did its reach. Parkside’s senior social workers have provided clinical supervision for graduate social work students from Columbia University, New York University and Fordham University as well as for

dual-degree special education/social work students from Bank Street, Columbia and Sarah Lawrence. This commitment to education has contributed to the training and licensing of more than sixty social work professionals.

Among the most notable achievements during Anne’s tenure as the head of Parkside’s social work department was the publication of a 2015 article in The Psychoanalytic Study of the Child. Written collaboratively by the department and titled “The Same Fish: Creating Space for Therapeutic Relationships, Play and Development in a School for Children with Special Needs,” the paper puts into writing the working principles and practices that are at the core of our social work program. In Anne’s words, “It offers a glimpse of how, working through trusting relationships and play – often in micro-moments of connection over long stretches of time – we partner with children to strengthen their capacities for connection and communication.”

Through the years, much has remained constant under Anne’s thoughtful guidance. Parkside’s social work department thrives on the challenges and fun of collaboration, problem-solving and brainstorming. They have developed a shared understanding about children, their struggles, and what they are trying to communicate. And their approach to therapy is underpinned by a sense of community, camaraderie and that same sense of courage which first caught Anne’s attention at that open house on West 100th Street. Parkside’s social work department has thrived under Anne’s thoughtful guidance

and her emphasis on the ideas of relationship and attachment for growth and development. The world is changing for all of us yet these principles remain a bedrock for a legacy that the department will carry on.

As our school enters its 34th year, we honor Ms. Anne Tuohy and the nearly three decades of collaboration, innovation and kindness that have shaped our community and helped Parkside students to feel a vibrant sense of connection through relationships. As Anne embarks on new adventures, which we hear include studying French and exploring volunteer opportunities around adult literacy programs and the upcoming election, we wish her the very best that life has to offer. She is a pillar in our community, and we are forever in her debt for the role she played in shaping our school.