On the morning of Friday, October 10, Fieldston parents and faculty received an email announcing the departure of Upper School Principal Laura Danforth at the end of the 2014-15 academic year.
“Some of you have learned that I am a finalist in head searches at two different independent schools,” Ms. Danforth wrote. “Regardless of the outcome of these searches, for personal and private reasons this will be my last year at Fieldston. This school year is still young and new. We have a lot of exciting work ahead of us in the upper school and I’m committed to being fully engaged for the rest of the year with our amazing faculty and students.”
In the same email, Head of School Damian Fernandez thanked Ms. Danforth for her leadership, warmth, and hard work.
“When [Laura] informed me of her decision that the 2014-15 year would be her last at Fieldston,” he wrote, “I knew there would be wonderful opportunities in her future. We will come together as a community during this time of transition. In the next few weeks we will form a search committee for the new Upper School Principal and will engage our community in the search process.”
At 11:59 AM, the same email was forwarded to upper school students by Assistant Director of Communications Maria Asteinza who said “this email was sent at 9:30 AM to all upper school students. We understand that not all students received it, so we are re-sending it.” Some advisors had already shared the note with their advisees that morning, while other students claimed to have known about Danforth’s plans days in advance.
Two faculty groups have decided to write letters in the wake of Danforth’s announcement. One, written by the Faculty Council that reports to the Upper School Principal, and the other by the Faculty Advisory Committee, which acts as a liaison between faculty and the Head of School.
“By our constituents, the faculty, we were asked to hold a meeting to respond to the upset in the community around the various rumors that were swirling about her departure,” said Melanie Cooper-Leary, the senior-most member of the Faculty Council. “We held a meeting to hear the concerns and bring them, as our mandate says, to Laura Danforth. We are going to formally write up a letter that will go to Laura, copied to Head of School, copied to our Board Members, to express our distress about the departure of Laura. It’s a scary time for everyone at Fieldston. The lack of communication is scary, for everyone.”
Abigail Diamond, one of three representatives on the Faculty Advisory Committee in the Upper School, also voiced her disappointment upon hearing about Danforth’s decision to leave the school.
“I think it’s safe to say that [Ms. Danforth] is pretty universally well-liked and respected,” Ms. Diamond said. “She’s only been here two years and it’s sad to see it coming to an end. My concern is what the future of leadership looks like in the high school. It’s a long process to find a good principal and we were really lucky to find her. Are there others out there like her?”
Since the news broke on Friday, Ms. Diamond confirmed that a letter was sent to Fernandez “on behalf of the faculty, that expressed how much we like Ms. Danforth and how sad we are to see her go.”
In a statement provided to the Fieldston News, Student Body Presidents Jake May (VI) and Adam Chan (VI) said they were sorry to hear that Ms. Danforth was leaving the school, and thanked her on behalf of the student body for her work at Fieldston.
For his part, Dr. Fernandez suggested that we celebrate Danforth’s accomplishments at Fieldston.
“Laura has been an impressive community builder,” he said when asked for comment. “She was my hire. She was someone that from the beginning showed the skills that we were seeking in our principal. As I said in the [schoolwide] communication, I’m not surprised that other schools have seen in her what we’ve seen during the past two and a half years.”
