Speers-Stoddard Apprentice Teacher Fund
The Speers-Stoddard Apprentice Teacher Fund supports the growth of the Apprentice Teacher Program at New Canaan Country School. The fund was established in 2022 by the Speers and Stoddard families in honor of longtime NCCS teachers Sue Speers (Upper School Humanities 1967-1992) and Pat Stoddard (Upper School Humanities 1968-1978). Both Sue and Pat were trailblazing teachers, ahead of their time in many ways, and embodiments of the Country School mission and commitment to great teaching. They pushed students to tackle hard topics and advocated for the school to take risks with new curriculum and approaches. Education and teaching are important to both families and this fund will provide enhanced training for the next generation of teachers at NCCS and beyond.
We launched our Apprentice Teacher Training Program in 1953 as only the second of its kind nationwide. It is modeled after a teacher training program originally invented in 1928 by Katherine Taylor, Head of the Shady Hill School of Cambridge, MA. Country School Headmaster Henry Welles (1938-1963) had begun his career apprenticing for Ms. Taylor. Later, he sought to emulate the program. The Apprentice Program was designed to give beginning teachers the experience and training needed to go out and lead classrooms of their own. Nearly 1,000 apprentices have come through NCCS, and many have gone on to live impactful lives as educators.
The program has evolved over time, but remains true to its original mission. As many as 15 apprentices every year work alongside mentor lead teachers in our Early Childhood, Lower School and Middle School divisions. Our apprentice teachers get invaluable on-the-job training and mentoring from our experienced teachers as well as the opportunity to coach and participate in specialized professional development. We even provide funding for graduate school programs to further hone their teaching skills, exposure and experience. Our students gain additional individual and small group learning opportunities and an infusion of enthusiasm, fresh ideas and approaches to our curriculum and classrooms.
An investment in our Apprentice Teacher Training Program is an investment in the future. Many incredible teachers have left their mark here at Country School over the decades, and our apprentices have gone on to lifelong teaching careers across the country in public and private schools, several currently holding leadership roles as heads of school and principals, including several in our own leadership here at Country School. Through new programs, courses, or just the daily care they put into teaching, these teachers are the heart and soul of our mission and shape who we are as a school and who our students become as alumni.
It is a critical time to educate future teachers. Gifts to the Speers-Stoddard Apprentice Teacher Fund will support the continued growth and innovation of the NCCS Apprentice Teacher Program, including salaries, housing, and professional development as well as new evolutions like a multi-level structure to better serve associate-level teachers and a partnership with the Horizons at NCCS Teaching Assistants Program.
To learn more about supporting this fund, please visit www.countryschool.net/Speers-Stoddard or reach out to Holly Donaldson Casella ‘04, at hcasella@countryschool.net or 203-801-5687.
New Canaan Country School
New Canaan Country School admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin and are afforded all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, sex, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, or disability in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, financial aid policies or any other school-administered programs.
