This interview has been condensed and edited from its original form. 

SBC: What is your favorite Center School game? 

JD: Favorite Center School game… I love a little All School Capture the Flag. I love playing games with the older kids and the younger kids. I also like Sardines. 

SBC: What about your favorite birthday song? 

JD:  Candles. No doubt, always choose Candles. Love it. 

SBC: Favorite ritual. 

JD: I love All School. All School is like church. I love all the little kids sharing. I love how when the kids are little, it's like going to a Broadway show. 

SBC: I know. 

JD: They're so into it. They're so obsessed. And now it's just one of those things where our kids when they leave here are so good at public speaking and so good at presenting… you know, my [8th grade class] just did their AP [Ambitious Project] speeches for AP night on Tuesday. It was unreal how good they were. They were so confident, just calm, just up there like better than most adults for sure. So, I love me some All School. 

SBC: And how do you describe the school to people? 

JD: I describe it as small and progressive. A family, which I know is a very loaded term these days. I think a lot of people like to kind of put a boundary around the work/family kind of conversation. And I understand that. But for me, it actually is my family, because my actual children are here. 

SBC: What’s your role here? 

JD: I am the eighth grade lead teacher and an Uppers teacher, which is... Uppers is the Center School word for the middle school [grades 6-8].

SBC: And how long have you been in this role?

JD: I believe this to be my 11th year. 

SBC: And have you always been an Uppers teacher? 

JD: Yes, I came from teaching high school, so… eighth grade is where I belong here at the school. 

SBC: So tell me why. Like what is it about that age range?

JD: Eighth graders are... they're awesome, because they're a great mix of still being kids, they still like to play and do kid things but they're starting to try on other identities and the world is getting bigger for them. They're trying to figure out where they belong in the world and I love that moment with them. 

SBC:  And when you are with them during the day, what do you think they're looking to you for? 

JD: I think they're looking to me for affirmation that they're okay. They're looking for me for safety, because a lot of what we do here involves taking risks and being vulnerable. And that's really hard for adolescents. That's really, really hard. It's easier for sixth graders than it is for eighth graders. It's one of the things that they come in with. Less self-conscious and then we kind of see them gain self-consciousness. And that gets in the way of community, it gets in the way of learning. And so I think they look to me for interpersonal safety with them, but to also kind of create a safe environment with our class. 

SBC: So how do you do that? Like what would you say are essential components to facilitating that safe space and connection both between teacher and student and between students?

JD: I think a lot of it is modeling, right? I put myself out there a lot. I, you know, make a fool out of myself or tell them a lot of stories about what I was like when I was their age, which I think they enjoy and helps them have a good laugh. Like if everybody can have a laugh at me, who doesn't feel vulnerable because I'm 52, you know, then, then they can kind of know that, it's okay to laugh at each other in a nice way... I try to make things fun and have the kids enjoy what we're doing. I think I really listen to them and I remember things well.

So I'll often bring up something that somebody shared in morning meeting, like later in the day. Or, you know, the group I have this year is especially really good at kind of listening to each other and asking follow-up questions and making everybody's stories part of the fabric. 

SBC: Some of my friends I've had for 40 years and I met them at the Center School. I think part of that is because we all practiced building community and connecting and asking questions before we knew the answers.

JD: Yeah, I think that it's so ingrained in, you know, all the little things. Like when I think about what you just said, it really sparked for me. There's a tradition of when you're done presenting anything at Center School, whether it's at All School or you're just like in a circle sharing something, you say, “I'm ready for questions and comments.” Which we do in my family, because both my kids, one of my kids graduated last year, and one of them is graduating this year. And it's just like a thing. You do it no matter what. You're always ready to receive questions or get feedback. So that's a little piece that I always think of and it's not normal at other schools. Most schools, it's like you do things for the teacher, you want the teacher's approval, everybody else, whatever, they're just other people in the room. But that's not, yeah, that's not what we're doing here.

SBC: What are you doing here? Like what feels like specific to what's being done here that makes it this place?

JD: What we're doing here is helping kids figure out who they are. We're helping kids to figure out what's important to them. We're helping kids figure out how they learn, what they want to learn, and then how to do it, how they learn best. We're helping kids figure out how to be part of a community, be part of a group. 

They talk about community in the younger grades and building a community in their classroom. And we talk about that very explicitly in the Uppers, but then we're also going out into the larger community. And we talk a lot about, you know, the world at large and how we want to be in the world. 

A watercolor portrait of Josie by Maren Bishop ‘25, a member of Josie’s latest 8th grade homeroom.

Vanessa takes kids out for community service. I mean, we do community service in the school, but she's also taking kids to nursing homes to help out in all sorts of different ways. There's always an idea of giving back and being a part of something… we’ll do a day of service and go scoop all the wood chips or do a job that takes a lot of hands and it’s just built in. And writing thank you cards. That was something, a really small thing, when I first got here that was a big piece of the culture. That was totally different from anywhere I had been, where we take time for writing thank you cards for the parents who've driven us places or write a thank you to a speaker who's come in. Doing these little tasks that kind of build gratitude and like really explicitly show a kid where they fit in the community.

…And I just think in general, the inclusiveness and the tone… the kids know that it's not just a teacher's job, it's their job too. To build a community, to include other kids, to be as open and loving as they can. But what we often hear from teachers or from parents when they go off to high school is, kids who graduate from here know what their job is as part of a classroom community. Right there, always communicating with the teacher, asking for help, trying to keep in mind the whole group. They just know how to do it really well, which is cool. 

SBC: That's like the rewarding thing that you hear back?

JD: Yes. We hear a lot about how awesome all our kids are out in high school. 

SBC: What’s something that you singularly bring to the school?

JD: The personal connection piece is something that I bring. I think every kid that has graduated from here can think of good talks that we have had together or good experiences that we've shared together. And that they have always known that I'm on their side. Like I really think every kid could say that. Even kids who we butted heads a lot or if things were challenging, like I think in the end, to just know that you have a teacher who's on your side is pretty deep. 

SBC: Yeah that frames every relationship. Coming back to make sure that they know that always.

JD: And I think especially in middle school when a lot of parents start to feel like what the hell is happening to my kid? You know, like what's going on? To be able to partner with teachers to be like, this is normal. You know we have so many meetings with parents where they're like, oh, thank you so much for seeing what's going on and helping me. Because it's such a big transition, because the kids are pushing their parents away. That's their job. It's to become who they're gonna be. And it really freaks some parents out and it's really hard. You go from having a cuddly little buddy to somebody who slams the door and is like, leave me alone, I need to be alone. And you're like oh. So I love that opportunity too, to be able to partner with parents.

SBC: How do you know that it's been a good day of teaching? What does that look like, feel like? 

JD: I love when I've heard every kid's voice, like when we're talking about a book. And I love it when I don't know when class is over. You know that's been a good class.

SBC: Like you lost track of time.

JD: You lost track of time, nobody's been like, oh it's lunch time. Like they're all revved. I guess sometimes you know the next day, because somebody will be talking about something you did the day before. This winter, I taught Romeo and Juliet for the first time, and it was so successful. You know when a thing is going well, is when the kids come into class, they're like ready to go, they're, like, what are we doing today? Like, are we gonna get to do that scene? Like, I brought my wig. You can tell they've been thinking about it outside of class. I think you know it's good when it spills over to other parts of the day. Because then it's real, and they're really thinking about it.

SBC: When they leave, when they graduate, what is the one thing that you hope that they know? 

JD: I hope they know that they can ask for help. Doing whatever they're doing in their life. I hope they know that. I honestly feel like that's the biggest thing, that they can be vulnerable and put themselves out there and ask for help. And be themselves. Yeah, and be their freaky, awesome selves. 

SBC: That's great.  Thank you very much. 

JD: Thank you.