Reflections
As I write my Ellis story, I am starting my 36th and final year more than a century after Miss Ellis founded The Ellis School in 1916. It seems like yesterday that I received a call from The Ellis School to schedule an interview in the spring of 1981.
I had applied just one week prior, because I knew the outgoing teacher, Susan Castellano, with whom I taught at Carnegie Mellon University’s Saturday Pre-College Art Program. I was teaching Drawing and Anatomy in the program. Susan had replaced Ceil Lieberman, legendary Pittsburgh artist and Ellis art teacher, who had retired two years before Susan was hired. Susan was expecting her first child, and she planned to be a stay-at-home mom. Susan had told Mrs. Frances Koch, then Director of Upper School Studies (and a legend herself) all about me, saying I was the right teacher to carry forward the excellent Ellis art program.
I had applied just one week prior, because I knew the outgoing teacher, Susan Castellano, with whom I taught at Carnegie Mellon University’s Saturday Pre-College Art Program. I was teaching Drawing and Anatomy in the program. Susan had replaced Ceil Lieberman, legendary Pittsburgh artist and Ellis art teacher, who had retired two years before Susan was hired. Susan was expecting her first child, and she planned to be a stay-at-home mom. Susan had told Mrs. Frances Koch, then Director of Upper School Studies (and a legend herself) all about me, saying I was the right teacher to carry forward the excellent Ellis art program.
I was “put through the paces” for four hours on interview day. I met with Mrs. Koch, Lu Wenneker (College Counselor/Art Department Chair/Art History teacher), Headmistress Janet Jacobs, and a host of others. In addition, on the following Saturday morning (very snowy as I recall), Mrs. Koch came to Carnegie Mellon to observe me teaching my pre-college class. She strolled around the room, nonplussed by the nude model posed in the center of the space. Monday morning I was offered the Ellis position.
When I started my career at Ellis that August of 1981, I was 29 years old and newly married. Pat Crosby, Ceil Leeper Sturdevant, and Charles Altman all joined the faculty that same year. I taught studio art (including drawing, painting, printmaking, jewelry making, and other crafts) to students in grades 8 – 12 who were eager to learn and made teaching a true labor of love. The radio in the studio was always on, and the girls were always busy. My first group of seniors, the Class of 1982, was a force to be reckoned with. They spent the year putting me through my paces, so the interview process proved to be a prelude to teaching that senior class!
I was a grade 10 Homeroom Teacher with Judy Callomon (History Teacher, Department Chair, and another legend), and the sophomores listened to her far better than they listened to me. The Ellis campus looked different—what is now the grass-covered courtyard was a driveway loop, and girls were dropped off or picked up under the zig-zag canopy. Miss Hasson, school receptionist and guardian of Ellis keys, sat at the reception desk just inside the door and knew literally every person’s name. Mr. Kuhar, a stocky, cigar-smoking custodian, strolled the halls calling everyone “Teach”—students and adults alike. The Lower School, grades K-4 at that time, was located in Arbuthnot House, and my current office was the kindergarten classroom. I remember clearly entering the Ellis faculty lounge that was always billowing with cigarette smoke (yes, smoking was permitted and common in the early 1980s) and felt somewhat intimidated by the likes of Librarian Edna Jones and teachers Pat Palermo (Music), Margaret Jenkins (grade 4), Mark Walker and Dee Malter (Science), Judy, Lu, and many other veteran teachers who were impressive educators and self-assured professionals. I felt young, naïve, and far less assured than my colleagues, but they always treated me as part of the group. It was a transformative moment in my career, and that is when my blood began to run Ellis green.
In April of 1983, my first son Christopher was born, and I was the second Ellis teacher in the School’s history to take a maternity leave and return to full time teaching in the fall (Physical Education teacher and Department Chair Bonnie McConnell was the first). When Lu Wenneker headed west to California with her husband Jerry in the summer of 1983, I was asked to teach Advanced Placement (AP) Art History. I had a dual degree from the University of Pittsburgh in Studio Art and Art History, so I jumped at the chance. In 1984, I added AP Studio to the arsenal of AP courses at Ellis. In 1986, I was invited by the College Board to be an AP consultant, and I traveled two times per year to cities in the Middle States region, instructing new AP art and art history teachers. My second son Craig was born in December of 1987—the day after I gave my December exam in AP art history. Mrs. Koch visited me in the hospital with a gift and an envelope with my exams to grade. The show must go on! My third son Chad was born in May of 1990. By this time, my husband Bob and I had recognized that the only girls in my life would be my Ellis girls. I cherish this symmetry in my world.
I lovingly taught Studio Art and Art History at Ellis until 1998, when Rebecca Upham, then our wonderful Head of School and now an Ellis Trustee, appointed me Director of the Upper School upon Judy Callomon’s retirement. Those were big shoes to fill! The current Hillman Family Upper School Building was completed five minutes before the start of the school year in September of 2000; the paint on the walls was probably still wet. It was an historic moment for Ellis.
As Upper School Director, my teaching was replaced with significant administrative responsibilities, but the opportunity to have an impact on the entire Upper School division and its students and faculty—even the entire school—was both exhilarating and fulfilling.
I recall so many milestone moments in the world that impacted our Ellis community in my 15 years as Upper School Director: the death of Princess Diana, the 9/11 attack, the market collapse, the earthquake in Haiti, Arab Spring. The students in our “Ellis bubble” were always attuned to the world’s tragedies and triumphs, and their teachers always encouraged the habits of mind to intellectualize and understand the world. They taught methods that ensured the girls’ worldview always included matters and ideas larger than themselves.
In September of 2013, I was appointed Interim Head of The Ellis School and then in December became its fourteenth Head of School. We have accomplished so much and continue to evolve. The Ellis Athletic Field, a dream for so many years, became a reality in the fall of 2014. Our sights are now set on other capital initiatives such as the Middle School and Library. In the past three years, we have balanced the budget, increased enrollment, and strengthened our programs. Ellis’ next century is brimming with remarkable opportunities to fulfill our mission of preparing, empowering, and inspiring girls through an excellent education in an all-girls environment. Ellis is, and will remain, a regional asset.
There are so many wonderful people I have come to know over my decades at Ellis—too many to list here considering the generations of colleagues, mentors, and friends past and present. I will note those Ellis titans who preceded my time at Ellis who I had the great honor of meeting: beloved Headmistress, Helen Moore; Music teacher, Kay Stolarevsky; and artist, Ceil Lieberman. There are thousands of Ellis girls and women who I’ve known and loved over time, some with whom I’ve maintained contact or who contact me out of the blue—a thrill beyond description. I am sincere when I write that I have been blessed to be part of this wonderful Ellis community for so many years.
It is an awesome moment when one finally approaches retirement. It’s a state of being that seems so far in the distance during your early career, and then, poof! It’s here. I have new adventures on the horizon with my grandson Kolton, (yes, I continue to be surrounded by boys in my own family). Yet, green and white will never leave my system, and Ellis will remain an enduring part of my life. My composite Ellis education, amassed over 36 years, has prepared, empowered, and inspired me to be a lifelong learner with ties that bind and knowledge that strengthens. Thank you, Ellis, and, here's to a great Centennial year in 2016–2017!
Back
When I started my career at Ellis that August of 1981, I was 29 years old and newly married. Pat Crosby, Ceil Leeper Sturdevant, and Charles Altman all joined the faculty that same year. I taught studio art (including drawing, painting, printmaking, jewelry making, and other crafts) to students in grades 8 – 12 who were eager to learn and made teaching a true labor of love. The radio in the studio was always on, and the girls were always busy. My first group of seniors, the Class of 1982, was a force to be reckoned with. They spent the year putting me through my paces, so the interview process proved to be a prelude to teaching that senior class!
I was a grade 10 Homeroom Teacher with Judy Callomon (History Teacher, Department Chair, and another legend), and the sophomores listened to her far better than they listened to me. The Ellis campus looked different—what is now the grass-covered courtyard was a driveway loop, and girls were dropped off or picked up under the zig-zag canopy. Miss Hasson, school receptionist and guardian of Ellis keys, sat at the reception desk just inside the door and knew literally every person’s name. Mr. Kuhar, a stocky, cigar-smoking custodian, strolled the halls calling everyone “Teach”—students and adults alike. The Lower School, grades K-4 at that time, was located in Arbuthnot House, and my current office was the kindergarten classroom. I remember clearly entering the Ellis faculty lounge that was always billowing with cigarette smoke (yes, smoking was permitted and common in the early 1980s) and felt somewhat intimidated by the likes of Librarian Edna Jones and teachers Pat Palermo (Music), Margaret Jenkins (grade 4), Mark Walker and Dee Malter (Science), Judy, Lu, and many other veteran teachers who were impressive educators and self-assured professionals. I felt young, naïve, and far less assured than my colleagues, but they always treated me as part of the group. It was a transformative moment in my career, and that is when my blood began to run Ellis green.
In April of 1983, my first son Christopher was born, and I was the second Ellis teacher in the School’s history to take a maternity leave and return to full time teaching in the fall (Physical Education teacher and Department Chair Bonnie McConnell was the first). When Lu Wenneker headed west to California with her husband Jerry in the summer of 1983, I was asked to teach Advanced Placement (AP) Art History. I had a dual degree from the University of Pittsburgh in Studio Art and Art History, so I jumped at the chance. In 1984, I added AP Studio to the arsenal of AP courses at Ellis. In 1986, I was invited by the College Board to be an AP consultant, and I traveled two times per year to cities in the Middle States region, instructing new AP art and art history teachers. My second son Craig was born in December of 1987—the day after I gave my December exam in AP art history. Mrs. Koch visited me in the hospital with a gift and an envelope with my exams to grade. The show must go on! My third son Chad was born in May of 1990. By this time, my husband Bob and I had recognized that the only girls in my life would be my Ellis girls. I cherish this symmetry in my world.
I lovingly taught Studio Art and Art History at Ellis until 1998, when Rebecca Upham, then our wonderful Head of School and now an Ellis Trustee, appointed me Director of the Upper School upon Judy Callomon’s retirement. Those were big shoes to fill! The current Hillman Family Upper School Building was completed five minutes before the start of the school year in September of 2000; the paint on the walls was probably still wet. It was an historic moment for Ellis.
As Upper School Director, my teaching was replaced with significant administrative responsibilities, but the opportunity to have an impact on the entire Upper School division and its students and faculty—even the entire school—was both exhilarating and fulfilling.
I recall so many milestone moments in the world that impacted our Ellis community in my 15 years as Upper School Director: the death of Princess Diana, the 9/11 attack, the market collapse, the earthquake in Haiti, Arab Spring. The students in our “Ellis bubble” were always attuned to the world’s tragedies and triumphs, and their teachers always encouraged the habits of mind to intellectualize and understand the world. They taught methods that ensured the girls’ worldview always included matters and ideas larger than themselves.
In September of 2013, I was appointed Interim Head of The Ellis School and then in December became its fourteenth Head of School. We have accomplished so much and continue to evolve. The Ellis Athletic Field, a dream for so many years, became a reality in the fall of 2014. Our sights are now set on other capital initiatives such as the Middle School and Library. In the past three years, we have balanced the budget, increased enrollment, and strengthened our programs. Ellis’ next century is brimming with remarkable opportunities to fulfill our mission of preparing, empowering, and inspiring girls through an excellent education in an all-girls environment. Ellis is, and will remain, a regional asset.
There are so many wonderful people I have come to know over my decades at Ellis—too many to list here considering the generations of colleagues, mentors, and friends past and present. I will note those Ellis titans who preceded my time at Ellis who I had the great honor of meeting: beloved Headmistress, Helen Moore; Music teacher, Kay Stolarevsky; and artist, Ceil Lieberman. There are thousands of Ellis girls and women who I’ve known and loved over time, some with whom I’ve maintained contact or who contact me out of the blue—a thrill beyond description. I am sincere when I write that I have been blessed to be part of this wonderful Ellis community for so many years.
It is an awesome moment when one finally approaches retirement. It’s a state of being that seems so far in the distance during your early career, and then, poof! It’s here. I have new adventures on the horizon with my grandson Kolton, (yes, I continue to be surrounded by boys in my own family). Yet, green and white will never leave my system, and Ellis will remain an enduring part of my life. My composite Ellis education, amassed over 36 years, has prepared, empowered, and inspired me to be a lifelong learner with ties that bind and knowledge that strengthens. Thank you, Ellis, and, here's to a great Centennial year in 2016–2017!
Envision Her at Ellis
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