Above and below: Sarah in action as mom, teacher, colleague and mentor

Sarah’s jam-packed schedule is not unique at Exeter. Instructors like Sarah, those willing to dedicate themselves fully to residential secondary school life through their classroom teaching and out-of-classroom advising, are becoming increasingly hard to attract and retain in today’s competitive environment. Exeter will be seeking to increase its compensation and professional development funds and improve its faculty residences as it strives to continue to draw those master teachers who will inspire the next generation.

Wake up and get older son off to school, making breakfast and ensuring that he has all his books and assignments together. Sarah’s eldest leaves at 6:50 to catch a 6:55 bus to the middle school.

Repeat above preparatory activities. Sarah refers to it as “making sure he’s got all his bits and pieces.”

Walk younger son to Lincoln Street School, taking shortcut by the new Phelps Science Center.

“We are about to start Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea,” says Sarah. “This presents an interesting challenge for discussion at 8:00 a.m. as the novel isn’t as action-packed as some 14-year-olds would like.” Over the course of the term, Sarah and this particular class will read four different texts, spending two to three weeks on each. Sarah’s English 120 preps will also write four different papers, one to correspond with each text.

“In Fisher Theater, I’m teaching a course called, ‘Reader’s Theater,’ ” says Sarah. “We are looking at how to make non-dramatic texts theatrically active. One of my students just performed a history of the cell phone!”

Assembly in the Academy Building

Since she is drama department chair, Sarah dedicates a portion of this period to department matters, which might mean answering e-mails or sorting through résumés. Sometimes she meets with the other members of the drama department to talk about the curriculum review or about “all the things that need to happen to get shows on at the Fisher Theater.” Sarah might also meet with students during this period.

On Tuesdays, Sarah attends a department heads meeting with the Academy’s other department leaders. Other days might find her meeting with Steve Kushner, music teacher and director of studies, about this spring’s production of The Mikado.

Half hour for a sandwich. Sarah may or may not go to the gym during this crunch time, but generally tries to get there a couple of times a week.

This group is comprised of nine faculty members, seven of whom (including Sarah) head study groups focused on various aspects of the curriculum review currently underway at the Academy. “This is a great group of people,” says Sarah, “—very collegial.” During the meeting, the various members report back on things they are discovering in their study groups. “We might also talk about ways to involve faculty and students or about what we’re reading,” Sarah explains. “Additionally, we might report on outside meetings or conferences we’ve attended or discuss what kinds of information to present to the trustees.”

Together with classical languages department chair Paul Langford, history instructor Meg Foley and Jeanne Stern, the head counselor at health services, Sarah uses this period to convene her study group. The group analyzes the latest brain research coming out of institutions like Harvard, M.I.T., Johns Hopkins and Yale. Sarah explains that they are currently going back and looking at the history of how kids have been taught. “Sometimes we all read one book, such as Daniel Goleman’s Emotional Intelligence,” says Sarah. “Now we are each reading a different book and reporting back about what we’re learning. This is the Harkness model applied to adults. Everyone has the charge of learning, of immersing themselves in the field.”

(On days when study group does not meet)
Sarah’s eldest son is back on the bus at 2:30, which gives her enough time to dart home and organize his snack while he begins his homework. At 2:50, Sarah walks over to Lincoln Street School to pick up her youngest son. “This term I can be a mom after school,” she says with her characteristic twinkle. “Next term I’ll have practice for The Mikado in the afternoons.” Once everyone is home and has had a snack, it’s off to various activities and lessons: Boy Scouts and trumpet for Sarah’s eldest, Destination Imagination (a creative problem-solving group) and speech therapy for her youngest. “They also have skiing once a week,” she adds, reviewing her mental inventory.

Sarah and her sons have dinner together in the dining hall or at home each evening. “After supper, I read aloud to the kids until bedtime. We are currently about halfway through Book One of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.” Sarah’s youngest is in bed between 8:00 and 8:30. Her eldest heads off between 8:30 and 9:00.

Since Sarah is the sole adult living in Knight House, one of the Academy’s small houses, she has dorm duty or back-up duty every weeknight except Tuesday. This means that Sarah must be available for “conversations, crises and consultations.” Calls or visits can begin as early as 8:00 p.m. and continue well into the night. Every other week, Sarah has faculty/proctor meetings to discuss what’s going on in Knight House with the student proctors and dorm affiliates. Dorm birthday parties are a fairly regular occurrence, and Sarah bakes a cake for each girl when her special day arrives. During the time that she’s on duty, Sarah must also prepare classes and work for the next day. She usually finishes and is in bed by midnight, rising six hours later to start all over again.