Doug LyonsExecutive Director,
Connecticut Association of
Independent Schools
Mystic, Connecticut
Photo by Anna Sawin
I was 42 years old when a board of education granted me tenure as the superintendent of schools in an affluent, highly regarded school system. I had achieved the job security of a Supreme Court Justice—a lifetime appointment. I was grateful and humbled by the trust placed in me. The breadth of the honor, however, forced me to confront an unfortunate reality. After 20 years of service I had lost confidence in public education. My definition of a good school was increasingly at odds with the education goals of the state and federal government.
In 1992, I succumbed to the notion that a public school leader who chose independent schools for his own children could appropriately be viewed as inauthentic—or worse—a hypocrite. With a mixture of sadness and excitement, I accepted the call to become a head of school at the decidedly mission-driven Greenwich Country Day School (CT). It was here where I learned that the culture of an independent school is the special creation of its founders, leaders, faculty, and parents. These are places where dreams are born for both students and for those who devote their professional lives to the children and adolescents in their care.
School culture is more than a poetic phrase. It is the sum of all those who have treasured the mission of the institution and who have protected and celebrated the standards and traditions that have served the school well in its history. The past 27 years that I have spent in this special community—12 as a head of school and 15 as a state association director—have given me a wonderful opportunity to know and serve independent schools locally and nationally, deeply and broadly.
Last March I offered a one-hour workshop at the NAIS Annual Conference titled “Is an Independent School Education Worth the Price?” The workshop was a data-driven analysis of the significant benefits of the independent school model. At the conclusion of the presentation, a school trustee who is also a rabbi shared his reaction: There is no lifelong Jew, Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or Quaker as zealous as the midlife convert.
That defines me; a proud and grateful midlife convert.
When my twins graduated from college 13 years ago I thought my tuition-paying days were over. Now with four grandchildren later, I am writing checks to independent schools again—without hesitation. My 47-year career in education, leading both public and independent schools has convinced me that my educational return on investment will have far more power if spent in the precollegiate years, in independent schools. Why?
Because it is rare that a student discovers a love of learning after she has been admitted to Yale.
What’s your independent school journey? Tell us at [email protected].