Her Serendipitous Journey to Forman

Dean of Students Annie Crawford

If you asked Annie Crawford what she wanted to be when she grew up, she would have told you a teacher. When she was in eighth grade, she was inspired by her teachers, who always celebrated her achievements and supported her during challenges. “I wanted to do that for others, too,” she says.

Crawford studied English and literature at Fairfield University and graduated with a certificate to teach grades 7-12. Having called New Milford, CT home, she sought out local teaching jobs, but her search only turned up positions in history and math. She started selling cars at a local dealership before teaching for one year at the middle school she had attended and where her interest in teaching all started. Then, she began teaching at Forman School, to which she credits serendipity.

“One day, a woman came in and bought a car from me and asked how I got into car sales. I told her that I was actually hoping to teach. She told me that her husband was the head of school at a school that turned out to be Forman,” Crawford says. “When her license plates came in, I offered to bring them to her and put them on her car. She brought me on a tour of the School and encouraged me to send in my resume. I did and later got an interview. The rest is history.”

Crawford is now celebrating her 30th year at Forman. She started as a Language Training Teacher, which existed before the creation of the Cognition and Learning Department. She soon moved to the English Department, later becoming its Chair and a Class Dean, where she oversaw students and managed lower-level discipline situations. Since she started, she has also coached tennis, a sport she played competitively up until a few years ago.

When promoted to Dean of Students, she continued teaching but realized she needed to give her new role all of her attention. Crawford oversees the Deans’ Office, which encourages students to be their best selves and uphold the School’s core values and Code of Conduct; offers resources and support to students experiencing situations that are not in line with community

Clockwise from top left: Dominic Weir ’15, Annie Crawford, and Tristan Jeyaretnam ’15 at the 2015 Commencement; Gade Smith ’18, Annie Crawford, and Sarah Kothari ’18 in the dining hall; Alex Simon ’16 dressed up as Annie Crawford for Halloween; Zach Bitan ’13, Annie Crawford, Jon Moor ’13, and Abie Friedman ’13

standards; is a place where students can be honest and feel seen, heard, and supported; and holds students accountable for unacceptable behavior. She says the students who come through her office now have been the ones she has been able to connect with the most.

“I really try to get to know those kids and get them to understand that we all make mistakes, but the key is as long as you learn from it, hopefully not repeat it, then there is a big opportunity to grow as a person,” she says.

With the evolution of technology and immediacy of social media, Crawford sometimes needs to dig deeper to get to the bottom of situations. Still, her approach to handling them has remained the same. “I hold the line, I have expectations for student behavior … but I’m not one who would typically raise my voice,” she says. “I think that I am approachable, so I try not to ever let that change.”

She adds, “I like to think of myself as a dean for students as much as I am a dean of students.”

Last year, she was able to get back in the classroom when Head of School Adam K. Man P’15 asked senior staff members to teach a class. “I co-taught anatomy classes with (Science Teacher) Wendy Welshans P’24,” she says. “I loved it so much that I did it for two classes.”

Crawford served as a houseparent for more than 25 years in Giles, Chace, Beecher, and Newton dorms. She enjoyed living in dorms with students and being there when they needed support. “Never did I imagine a place where you would knock on your teacher’s door at 7:30 at night and get help with homework,” she says. She still lives on campus, now in a faculty home.

She has seen Forman change over the years, from new buildings to new programs, but what has not changed is the difference the School makes in students’ lives.

“The one sort of special sauce that’s never changed is the relationships students have with the faculty,” she says. “It is so rewarding to see the kids’ confidence grow and especially for our students to see opportunities they likely wouldn’t have had they gone to another school. Watching them flourish and be celebrated for who they are is amazing, and that is really what has kept me here.”

After she joined the Forman community in 1992, she never looked back. “When I got here, I thought, wow, this is a really special place and I want to be a part of it,” says Crawford. “It was a whole new world, but I adapted to it quite quickly, and I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else.”