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John Holden
I first met Joanne in the winter of 1986 when I interviewed at St. Andrew’s to be Head of the Upper School and Academic Dean. Joanne was the Dean of Students. She was the reason I accepted the job when it was offered because I knew working with a person who cared so deeply about students, who personified the St. Andrew’s philosophy of caring, nurturing and support of each student, would be totally fulfilling for me in my professional career. Joanne was excellent in how she carried out the job each day. We learned together and from each other. She was a total pro as an educator.
Joanne loved her job and the students and colleagues with whom she worked. Her deep caring oozed out of her. She had a great sense of humor that combined with a deep personal philosophy that guided her with each decision that she made, she was a huge part of the bedrock that helped establish St. Andrew’s in it early years carrying through to her retirement. It was all about the students leading the faculty and administration to ask, “For whom are we doing this?” as we made decisions for a student or the school. In my first three years working with Tom Shaw, Head of School, the Administrative Team – Joanne, Skeeter Lee, Head of the Middle School and I – would meet with Tom each morning after morning meeting to talk out any student or employee situation, the upcoming schedule of events, and to be sure we were on top of all that was happening. Joanne was superb as a school leader adding deep insights and ideas. She was organized and detail oriented. St. Andrew’s was still a young school. We were all learning as we worked to make SEAS the best learning opportunity, in all ways, for the students. Joanne was an excellent administrator.
Joanne’s personal moral compass included tough love. As the Upper School disciplinarian she always balanced, in such a thoughtful way, what was best for a student and what was best for the school. Every discipline situation a student experienced was a learning opportunity for that student and all other students to learn from the discipline consequences metered out. Joanne was tough, fair, honest, kind, respectful, and treated each student as an individual. In a discipline situation, Joanne modeled that each student was a good person who had made a poor choice and would be given the opportunity to redeem his or her reputation over time. After the student met appropriate consequences, Joanne was a huge proponent of a total fresh start.
Joanne was great fun with a lively and quick sense of humor. I can remember the many senior days we spent together. Joanne would energetically throw herself into each activity especially the faculty skits. She was a ham who liked to get up in front of the students, for example, acting out how not to ask a teacher for a college recommendation. When she was Head of the Upper School, Joanne always set a great tone on senior day, making the seniors feel deeply valued as the leaders of the school. The students knew that Joanne stood fully behind each one of them and their class.
It was a total pleasure for me to work with Joanne. I was so blessed to have her as an administrative colleague for 28 years. Joanne was an exceptional administrative leader and an outstanding role model for students and colleagues. She will be dearly missed.
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Joanne’s personal moral compass included tough love. As the Upper School disciplinarian she always balanced, in such a thoughtful way, what was best for a student and what was best for the school. Every discipline situation a student experienced was a learning opportunity for that student and all other students to learn from the discipline consequences metered out. Joanne was tough, fair, honest, kind, respectful, and treated each student as an individual. In a discipline situation, Joanne modeled that each student was a good person who had made a poor choice and would be given the opportunity to redeem his or her reputation over time. After the student met appropriate consequences, Joanne was a huge proponent of a total fresh start.
Joanne was great fun with a lively and quick sense of humor. I can remember the many senior days we spent together. Joanne would energetically throw herself into each activity especially the faculty skits. She was a ham who liked to get up in front of the students, for example, acting out how not to ask a teacher for a college recommendation. When she was Head of the Upper School, Joanne always set a great tone on senior day, making the seniors feel deeply valued as the leaders of the school. The students knew that Joanne stood fully behind each one of them and their class.
It was a total pleasure for me to work with Joanne. I was so blessed to have her as an administrative colleague for 28 years. Joanne was an exceptional administrative leader and an outstanding role model for students and colleagues. She will be dearly missed.
St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is a private, coeducational college preparatory day school for students in preschool (Age 2) through grade 12, located in Potomac, Maryland.