Living in the Webb Faculty
12
families
on
campus
Boarding school is about something more than academic achievement and college placement, about more than global alumni networks and the individual developing a fierce sense of self. Boarding school is about these things in part, yes, but really these are just rudimentary outcomes—caused to happen by the real success of boarding school—developing a love for learning and serving your community—all caused by students’ mentorships with faculty and staff.
This informal interaction with faculty and their families enriches the Webb experience for both day and boarding students, but what about the families themselves? What’s it like for the roughly 60 faculty and staff who call campus home, and for those raising families on campus?
It’s a spring afternoon and English Department Chair Andy Dahlstrom is walking down from Faculty Field with a group of students. Earlier in the day, he and his students had discovered a Greek column, purpose unknown, in the nearby ravine. Together now, they’re discussing Webb history and campus geography. Director of Academic Affairs Theresa Smith joins them, and the students take the opportunity to ask her about courses and say hello to her young son as they all make their way to central campus.
After dinner, the Dahlstrom and Quick children run outside together. Hilary notes that Harriet and Natalya are in the same class and they look out for each other at school. On campus, faculty children often travel in groups, shuttling between one faculty family house and the next. On weekends, one parent may take a group to the swimming pool, another to Chandler Field or into Claremont Village.
“It’s sort of Norman Rockwell,” muses Hilary Dahlstrom. “And I love the backyard.”
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That evening, Andy and his family—wife Hilary, daughter Harriet, and son Ray—are finishing dinner in the dining hall. Andy’s daughter Ivey, a Vivian Webb School freshman, is at home after finishing track practice. A student stops by to ask Andy a question, while a few others say hi to Ray, who will be a freshman at Webb School of California this fall.
A few tables over, the Quick family—science instructor and Alamo dorm head Kevin Quick, his wife Romana, and daughters Juliana and Natalya—also are at dinner. Their son Christian, a sophomore, is off, busy with Webb athletics. An animated group of students clusters around Kevin: Webb’s coed badminton team is on fire. The students are excited, but none more so than team founder and head coach Quick. He is beaming.
Living on campus means there is a “lack of worry” about children, Hilary says. “Everyone has a family here—it’s common.” he Dahlstrom family are familiar with campus living—the family lived at two boarding schools before moving to Webb—but Andy says Webb offers a unique atmosphere. In addition to its verdant 70 acres, which do indeed make for an unrivaled backyard, Webb is welcoming and authentic, he explains, and that’s a big part of the reason he and his family chose to join the Webb family. The atmosphere of community and family infuses the Webb experience for faculty families, as it does for students. And just as Webb students have traditions, Webb faculty families have traditions too, like preparing dinners for new parents. Across campus from the dining hall, the Lantz family—math instructor and South Hutchison dorm head Sarah, husband Ray and daughter Lucy—are spending time with the newest addition to their family, daughter Annalise.