Doane Announces New Head of Lower School

Husband Ben Steinfeld, Son Leo, and Kate Hewitt

Doane Academy announces the appointment of Kate Hewitt as the next Head of Lower School, beginning July 1, 2019. Ms. Hewitt is currently the Library Director and Professional Study Group (PSG) Coordinator at the Far Brook School, an independent PK-8 school in Short Hills, NJ. At Far Brook, Ms. Hewitt also teaches 7th grade English and serves as a student advisor. Her responsibilities with the PSG include overseeing professional development curriculum for Far Brook's faculty and mentoring other faculty leaders in their work with teachers. She is a member of the Board of Trustees' Diversity Committee and chaired Far Brook's Widening the Lens Diversity Conference last year. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Brown University, where she majored in English and American Literature and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. At Brown, she completed the undergraduate teacher education program and earned certification in Rhode Island. She earned her masters in library and information science from Rutgers and anticipates completing her masters of education in independent school leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University, this year.

Ms. Hewitt's statement of philosophy resonates with the mission of Doane Academy. She writes, "The educational journey originates in a child's lived experience of their school as a home. If education is, at its essence, the creation of conditions that facilitate growth, change, and empowerment, the most important of these conditions is a safe and nurturing environment in which all children know that they belong, that they are loved, honored, and valued just for being themselves." Doane Academy is particularly fortunate to welcome an educator who comes to us so closely aligned with our school's culture and values.

The Doane Academy community looks forward to welcoming Ms. Hewitt and her family to campus this summer.