MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME

TrinityPawlingQuakerCircle _QUAD

“I knew this was going to be more than a place of work,” recalls new staff member Emma Christiantelli. After day one of Headmaster Bill Taylor’s back-to-school Faculty In-Service, new faculty members had a genuine first impression of the friendly, warm humans who are the tone-setters of the Trinity-Pawling community. Noting a distinct comfort level at Trinity-Pawling, Christiantelli continues, “My best friend was also just starting a new job at a nearby college—and I know she was NOT sitting in a Quaker Circle listening to her colleagues speak from the heart.”

Headmaster Bill Taylor knows how to set the tone—this is what gives Trinity-Pawling the institutional depth that one often struggles to put into words. It’s the feeling of being welcomed. It’s making people comfortable. And it’s transformational. Tenured faculty of 30 years and fresh-out-of-college, first-time teachers alike were made to feel at home while sitting side by side in a circle in Taylor’s back yard.

Taylor first experienced a Quaker Circle at a NYSAIS Conference in the 1990’s. The Executive Director of NYSAIS at the time, Fred Calder, was a former head of a Quaker school. “When I began my experience at St. George’s in Memphis, I introduced this concept and modified it for the original group of faculty I had hired to start a new middle and upper school campus. It was a tremendously valuable bonding experience,” Taylor recalls, “and it was fairly normal that participants would become quite emotional in reflecting on the gratitude that they have for their colleagues, students, and chosen profession.”

Quaker Circles are a very meaningful way to establish a common vision and common narrative about a school culture. “I have wanted to introduce it to Trinity-Pawling for the past two years, but never thought that the timing was just right. This year, I decided that I would move forward and see how it went over,” says Taylor.

The experience of Taylor’s Quaker Circle underscored the mutuality of the faculty’s professional journey. The common narrative reflected a school culture that is student-centered, is distinguished by sacrifice and hard work, and is dedicated toward helping young men find their gifts & talents.

“The Quaker Circle worked very well here because people were open to being vulnerable and taking the types of healthy risks amongst their colleagues that would promote such a shared experience, ” says Taylor. After many positive comments and requests to do this again, a wonderful new Trinity-Pawling tradition may begin.