Stephen Davenport
“Some are called to work in schools. Some are called to write. Davenport is called to both.” Annie Dillard.
Stephen Davenport’s career as a teacher in and leader of independent schools and his writing career have been seamlessly connected since his first day in the classroom in 1957 at Trinity-Pawling School, a single-gender boarding school for boys in Pawling New York. In 1960, he moved to Kingswood School, a single-gender school for boys in West Hartford, CT where he served as chair of the English Department. His interest in the education of girls, specifically the difference between the way the two genders learn, began when Kingswood School, a single sex school for boys, merged with Oxford School, an academy for girls,to become the Kingswood-Oxford School. While he was at Kingswood-Oxford, Trinity College conferred The Capital Area Distinguished Teacher Award on him. Also while at Kingswood-Oxford, he published several articles in The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times Sunday travel section, and an article in The Saturday Review about how African-American kids were faring in elite New England boarding schools and a short story in The Transatlantic. During the summers, he was the Director of Cragged Mountain Farm, a co-ed boarding camp in Freedom, NH that focused on hiking, canoeing and other outdoor adventuring.
In 1973 he became the Head of The Country School, an elementary co-ed school in Madison, CT, where he watched some very good teachers instill the love of learning very early in their students’ lives. In 1977, he became the Head of The Athenian School in Danville, CA, drawn by the school’s integration of experiential learning, civic engagement, global citizenship, and other critical values with rigorous college preparatory academics. In the summers, he led the National Association of Independent Schools ten-day workshop for new heads of school. He left the Athenian School in 1887 to consult with independent schools, doing executive searches, leading professional development workshops for faculties and coaching school heads.
Davenport is now a full-time writer and volunteer. He serves on the board of The Athenian School, Civicorps Schools, and Aim High. In the past, he has served on the boards of The National Association of Independent Schools, The California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS), The Connecticut Association of Independent Schools (also CAIS), Lick Wilmerding High School, Saint Paul’s Episcopal Day School, and others.
Davenport is currently writing a sequel to Saving Miss Oliver’s, and working on a series of stories tracing the life of legendary teacher, Francis Plummer. (See The Last Visit in the November, 2011 issue of Amarillo Bay www.amorilobay.com) The series also features students, other teachers and former heads of Miss Oliver’s School for Girls.
