All good things must come to an end. For Robert Cairo, Assistant Principal of the Upper School, this means stepping down from his administrative role as Assistant Principal and directing his focus to teaching science. Cairo is known for his beguiling presentations in the world of neuroscience.
For Cairo, this is a welcomed and greatly exciting change as he will come full circle in his Fieldston journey.
Cairo first came to Fieldston as a full-time teacher in the 2001-2002 school year, after having been the principal at three other independent schools in New York, Texas and Colorado. Fieldston was an easy pick for Cairo partly due to its motto of encouraging community engagement, but mostly due to the intellectual curiosity and thoughtfulness of the students.
It was after Cairo’s demo class that he knew he wanted to teach at Fieldston. Cairo recalls, “I interviewed on the day that speeches for student body president were given at assembly. I had one of the candidates in my demonstration chemistry class. He lost the election, and he and I chatted about that after the demonstration class.”
The conversation with that student helped to show Cairo the sense of community at Fieldston. What he was able to sense, and later learned to love, was the comfort between the students and faculty, the informal yet respectful relationships held between them, and the goal of inclusivity and decision-making that included multiple perspectives and stakeholders. As put by Cairo, “It’s a school that encourages members of its community to have a voice in all aspects of school life.”
During Cairo’s first year at Fieldston he taught physics and chemistry, and in the Spring was offered the position of Assistant Principal/Director of Studies which he gladly accepted–– as the role allowed him to maintain a balance of administrative work and teaching.
Cairo held the position of Assistant Principal for 12 years before being asked to serve as interim Principal for the 2015-2016 school year. As Principal, he was responsible for the Upper School which meant, according to Cairo, “hiring and supervising faculty, overseeing the curriculum, student support, and scheduling policies,” which he so competently handled.
However, as Principal, Cairo held on to some of his previous responsibilities as Assistant Principal in anticipation of his return to that position. In 2018, after three years of being Principal, Cairo returned to his position of Assistant Principal where he could do more teaching and aid Principal Nigel Furlonge with his transition to the Upper School.
This was a momentous switch for Cairo, but provided him great satisfaction and pride as he was a prominent figure in creating a smooth transition for the school. Cairo had been tackling multiple roles in the meantime as he handed off his role as Principal to Mr. Furlonge. During this transitionary period, Cairo had been a flexible participant. Cairo stated, “I like to consider myself a team player who is willing and able to play several positions on the team.”
Cairo then spent another two years as Assistant Principal.
Reflecting back, Cairo has stated: “[administrative work and teaching] complemented [one another] and enabled me to see the bigger picture and better understand the perspectives of students and teachers.”
His great gift of experiencing multiple aspects of the educational institution has allowed him to expand his scope of knowledge and thus enabled him to provide more support to the faculty and students. Cairo is a seasoned educator, with experience in a multitude of roles and a calm and collected temperament. A scheduling conflict? No big deal. Cairo has dealt with it all and will continue using his unique and polished problem-solving skills for the following years.
Throughout all his years, the driving factor behind Cairo’s career in education has always remained clear: the students. “Whenever I had a part, however small, in the effectiveness of someone’s teaching or the success of a student, that was a personal highlight for me.”
Cairo has always been able to remain true to himself and to his true love: teaching. “As a teacher, every day in the classroom (wherever that might be) has been a highlight for me and has sustained me as an educator.”
This coming Fall, Cairo will be teaching Neuroscience and the Chemistry of Food as a part-time science teacher and will act as a consultant to Dr. Graves, our new Assistant Principal for Academic Life.
Through his 20 year journey at Fieldston, Cairo has contributed to the intellectual, inclusive and diverse environment of Fieldston and will continue to with his new role in the science department.
Reflecting back on his experiences, Cairo has learned, and will take with him as he steps down from his administrative post, “the importance of listening, being open to new ideas and change, being inclusive in decision-making, respecting differences, acknowledging mistakes, not taking [himself] too seriously, and holding [himself] as well as others accountable for [their] words and actions.”
We can rejoice and look forward to seeing Mr. Cairo in the halls next year as he returns to his roots.
