Ian Craig has spent 30 years in independent school education, including serving as head at three different schools. His career has taken him and his family around the country \u2014 Boston, Dallas, Nashville, Fort Worth, New Orleans \u2014 as he ascended the ranks from history teacher to middle school director and ultimately, head of school. This past June, Ian became head of Rumsey Hall, a kindergarten through ninth-grade boarding and day school just over the border in Washington, CT.<\/p>\n
No stranger to independent schools, Ian grew up on the campus of Friends Academy in Long Island before his father became head of Moorestown Friends in New Jersey. Ian\u2019s mother was also a teacher and director of admissions. What compelled him to become an educator himself?<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first job right out of Syracuse University was selling mutual funds in New York City, and I hated every moment. I left after six months and applied to New York University graduate program for Secondary Social Studies Education.\u201d Ian has been a teacher of history and coach ever since. \u201cAt Rumsey, I\u2019m still an advisor and coach football, ice hockey, and lacrosse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even after 30 years, Ian\u2019s joy has not diminished. \u201cEvery day is the best. I love being with the kids. The international students here at Rumsey have been the best surprise for me. We have students from across the United States and 12 countries. They bring a different perspective. I\u2019ll sit down to a meal with kids from all over the world, and I\u2019ll learn more at one lunch than I could learn \u2014 or teach \u2014 in five history classes.\u201d<\/p>\n
As head of school, Ian most appreciates that he has the opportunity to change the trajectory of a child\u2019s life. He shared a powerful story:<\/p>\n
“About 20 girls from an Afghanistan boarding school, essentially refugees, arrived in New England last week, and we were able to welcome two sixth-grade students here at Rumsey. They\u2019re amazing, sweet, positive kids, and they\u2019ll be able to spend two years with us. That\u2019s a life-changing experience for them and enriching for our own community. It\u2019s incredible to grant a child access to a school like Rumsey.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ian acknowledges that his three years at Trinity-Pawling shaped his decision to work in boarding schools. \u201cLiving on a campus encourages strong relationships among students and faculty. My wife, Holly, understands that the school community becomes an extension of our own family, and she enjoys being part of the culture of a boarding school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ian and Holly have been married for 25 years. The couple has two adult sons, and their adopted daughter, Maia, turned three in September. Congratulations, Ian, and we wish you well as you lead Rumsey Hall.<\/p>\n
by Maria Buteux Reade<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Ian Craig has spent 30 years in independent school education, including serving as head at three different schools. His career has taken him and his family around the country \u2014 Boston, Dallas, Nashville, Fort Worth, New Orleans \u2014 as he ascended the ranks from history teacher to middle school director and ultimately, head of school. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":4321,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-november-2021"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"FINDING JOY IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4320"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4347,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4320\/revisions\/4347"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trinitypawlingthequad.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}