Fieldston is bracing to lose 24 years of experience, care, and leadership rooted at the heart of our school; by mid June, we will bid farewell to Principal Laura Danforth, and English teacher extraordinaire, Kate Reynolds, two women who have infinitely strengthened the school. Laura’s presence has united the Fieldston community: faculty and students alike. ”I’ve tried to bring the faculty together, and provide a level of trust among the entire community.” She shares, “We have teachers here, many who can teach at top tier colleges and universities in the country, who choose Fieldston, and I think there is something to be said about that.” In spreading wisdom as both a teacher and leader, Laura never ceases to seek deep connections with students. “I hope, what I did with faculty and with students, is that I [let people know] I cared about them and the work they do. But that I also hold them accountable.”
Some of the projects she initiated include, an online attendance system, mandatory faculty websites, and the Quality of Fieldston Life Task Force, specifically, “to make the school a better place for students”.
Laura can be seen at any and all plays, concerts, and sports games supporting her students. She knows everyone’s names.
Reciprocally, students love her and have taken the time to get to know her well.
“I have spent three years with Laura, serving alongside her on the disciplinary committee, plotting promposals and petting zoos, planning FADs and MADs, fighting gun violence and sexual assault, confirming quotes for Fieldston News stories, sharing family problems and life stories, and getting to know one of the most extraordinary people on this planet. Laura’s time here is not marked by her departure, but rather the legacy of friendship, mutual respect, and love she has left in this community” asserts David Fishman (VI), one of many whose connection with Laura Danforth transcends reciprocal. He declares, “What sets Laura apart from everyone else is her uncanny ability to see a student as her colleague, rather than an inferior. In doing so, she holds each and every one of us to a higher standard; a standard we all want to meet. One cannot capture the complete essence of Laura Danforth in writing; rather, her presence exists throughout these hallowed halls, in the teachers, students, and administrators she has touched over the years. Laura, you have forever changed this institution; all the best to you in your future endeavours.”
Advisee, Carolyn Hirsch (V) declares, ”Ms. Danforth has revolutionized leadership by combining passion, empathy, loyalty, and unconditional love with guidance and great listening skills. She has been an unforgettable and irreplaceable role model, not only for me, but for the entire Fieldston community. Throughout the chaos of high school, she has been my one constant- always offering love, support, and encouragement. I owe my success to her and I am proud to call her my mentor. Ms. Danforth’s leaving is not a loss for me- in fact, it is merely a new chapter in her life and in our life-long relationship. The only way to express my immense gratitude is to follow one of the greatest lessons Ms. Danforth has taught me: pay it forward. Thank you, Ms. Danforth.” Laura’s most tangible legacy can be traced through the students she has influenced.
Reminiscing on the things she will miss most about Fieldston, Laura says, “I am also going to miss watching magical teaching going on in the classroom and magical learning. I have really learned to trust the students in making wise decisions (most of the time).” In addition, she beams, “The highlight of my day is when I walk through the quad and see students that are out there and together. Even when I have to say, ‘you can’t throw that ball in the walk way,’ it’s a time to engage with the kids.” Laura will leave Fieldston to become the head of the Masters School in Dobbs Ferry.
Laura’s selflessness, love, and care for others she infused into her work here will surely be missed. As she always urges, we must take what she has taught and given us and continue to “rock on with [our] bad selves”.
“When I think of Ms. Reynolds I think of one word: ZINGER. That first word, phrase, or sentence at the top of an essay that pulls your reader in. It sounds crazy but, at the time, this was a revolution for me: the idea that expository writing could, and should, be interesting to read,” declares Alum Annie Farber (‘06) both a Faulkner and Reynolds enthusiast. She declares, “plain and simple, Ms. Reynolds taught me how to write. And with that, how to question and think critically. She was a tough grader and held us to impossibly high standards. But she believed that we could meet them, and gave us all the tools to do it.” Annie graduated Fieldston in 2006 and went on to study comparative literature in college. She now works at a political media consulting firm and coordinating messaging and strategy for Democrats running for office.
To this day, Annie and Ms. Reynolds are still in touch and recently met for lunch with another former student. Ms. Reynolds boasts, “nothing made me prouder when they told me they were still using certain writing devices and techniques I had taught them. That’s where the true legacy lives.”
David Fishman, another former student of hers, also found a mentor in Ms. Reynolds. He proclaims, “Kate Reynolds is a woman with a vision. A vision that transcends teaching and testing, essay writing and ‘to be’ verb deleting. Throughout my fours years at Fieldston, Ms. Reynolds has almost single-handedly taught me the meaning of unbiased writing, a balanced story, and the integrity needed to be a journalist. One instance in particular sticks out to me when I think of Ms. Reynolds. Mere weeks before the deadline for my college essay, I met with Ms. Reynolds. We sat down on the quad, and she asked me to tell her my story. Hours later, her notebook was filled with the vivid details of my recounting. It was emotional, and the single experience that allowed me to finish my essay. Ms. Reynolds, as you carry your vision elsewhere, know that you have permanently altered my understanding of empathy, integrity, and respect, as I’m sure you’ve done with countless other students. Good luck, Ms. Reynolds; you will be missed.”
Anya Chen (‘14), another former student, comments, “In the end, she taught me plenty of necessary technical skills—how to close read, how to eliminate to be verbs from my writing, different types of literary criticism—but ultimately, the most powerful impact Ms. Reynolds had on my academic perspective was her communication of the importance of being intellectually adventurous, of taking academic risks, being innovative, and constantly reworking my own strategies of learning. I don’t know what I would have done without her as a teacher, advisor, and friend, and Fieldston will miss her immensely.”
When asked what her favorite part of teaching at Fieldston, Ms. Reynolds immediately declares that it was, “100% the students.” Being a teacher extends far beyond a mere job, but a lifelong dedication toward helping others. She claims, “As long as I have a class each day, no day is lousy.”
Throughout her time at Fieldston Ms. Reynolds has played many roles and has been extremely active in the Fieldston community as a dean, english department chair, dean of faculty, on faculty search committees and leader. She has decided that “It’s time to just keep growing.” that “for communities to keep growing, you’ve got to keep expanding. I just started feeling like I don’t know if there are ways for me to keep expanding here.” She claims that it is not at Fieldston’s fault though she says that there was nothing the school could have done to hold on to her. She is going to keep sending her children here, but, Ms. Reynolds will begin a new chapter in her professional career at the Spence school on the upper east side.
For communities to keep growing, you’ve got to keep expanding
One of the funniest moments in her career at Fieldston was an occurrence in her senior seminar class. “I always sign my emails to students, KFR. I am comfortable if students call me “Kate,” but students never seem to be comfortable calling me “Kate’” (they always call her Ms. Reynolds).” Finding it weird to sign her emails, ‘Ms. Reynolds’ she instead, signs ‘KFR,’ her initials. However, last year, her students didn’t now that her middle initial, F, stood for Fox and thought that she was signing her name, ‘Kate Fucking Reynolds’ to emphasize that the students, ‘better get this assignment in’. The truth came out sometime in the middle of the year, when someone asked her about her middle name. So for the rest of that year, she signed all of her emails to the class, ‘KFFR’. This instance, she comments, “seemed to say something about Fieldston students and their relationships with their teachers.” The fact “that they thought I would do that is funny,” But the fact “that they told me about it is really funny” and shows, “how student and teachers can connect here.”
When interviewed, both Ms. Reynolds and Laura selflessly directed the attention outward, crediting others around them or the success they have achieved. There is no doubt that it will take a while to alleviate the pain of these departures. We must, as an institution, keep their spirits alive and remember all they brought to this school. Ms. Reynolds claims, “I’m just a teacher rivering through here, just like the students river through here. We come, we go. We come, we go. The school is greater than one individual but we live on in each other, so I don’t imagine that I’ll have any concrete legacy, other than the work that transpired with my students.” Instead of dwelling in their departure, we must appreciate their contribution and look towards sustaining it.
