By Aidan Fox ’16, Staff Writer

“It’s the natural ebb and flow of any school or any business. People come and make their contributions and you hope you can hold on to those who make the best contributions for as long as possible,” said Mr. Rollenhagen, Dean of Faculty, with reference to the six teachers who will be leaving after this school year: Ms. Dougherty, Ms. Obydol, Mr. Huber, Ms. Hamm, Ms. Snow, and Ms. Railsback. This number may seem large; however, compared to the average departure rate of teachers at private schools in the U.S., which, according to Mr. Rollenhagen is ten to twelve percent, it is relatively low. “We’re sorry to see these people go,” Mr. Rollenhagen continued, expressing the general feeling of the community. Of the six departing teachers this year, five are moving on to different opportunities and one is retiring.

Students have been forward with their sadness for the departing teachers. To many, these people were more than instructors: they were friends and mentors. Brittney Tong ’16 described English teacher, Girls’ Lacrosse Coach, and Girl’s Soccer Coach, Ms. Railsback as “an incredible teacher [who] makes class so much fun…She really wants each of her students to do well.” Katelynn Rodriguez ’16 added this sentiment, saying, “Ms. Railsback is so genuine and quirky. I love being around her. She creates a light atmosphere and just makes me laugh. I’m going to miss her so much.” With regards to her future plans, Ms. Railsback said, “Next year, I will be working at The Rivers School, an independent school in the Boston area.  Though I am excited to move back home to Boston, I am going to miss the incredible people here at NA.  I feel lucky to have been a part of this community for the past three years!”

Ms. Snow, who is moving back to the Boston area, said that is “really hard to leave a community that I’ve become so ingrained in.” The English teacher, who considers her greatest memory at Newark Academy to be roller skating with 7th graders on a field trip said, “I love my co-faculty, and my students especially.” One of her former students, Chloe Cubbage ’15, said, “She was a fantastic teacher when I had her last year and she always made class fun plus she’s really sweet and approachable and I loved having her as a teacher.” Ankit Kosla ’16 said, “She made the class fun while teaching us how to properly analyze a novel.” However in addition to being a beloved English teacher Ms. Snow is also the faculty advisor to numerous clubs such as Africa Initiative and an active member in the community constantly participating in events such as an Evening of Jazz for Newtown.

Another leaving English teacher, Mr. Huber, who is also the backstage coordinator for many Newark Academy productions and co-faculty advisor to the Green Committee, said, “I’m moving on to things I’m excited about, but leaving will definitely be hard…Just being around kids is something I love.” Mr. Huber has worked at the Academy since 2004, and his three children have all spent their entire middle school and high school years here. According to Mr. Huber, what he would most miss the daily morning meeting announcements and the camaraderie of his friends.  Cameron Sadeghi ’16, one of Mr. Huber’s students, said, “He gave us a very entertaining learning environment and connected to students well.”

Over the past 7 years, Ms. Hamm has contributed to the Newark Academy community as a math teacher, Varsity Feild Hockey Coach, and most recently as the Associate Director of College Counseling. Ms. Hamm has been a valuable resource to students at the Academy, and Danielle Sidi’14, who had Ms. Hamm as a teacher and a college counselour attests to this by saying that, “I was so impressed with her ability to keep me interested in my academics. I’m so sad to see her leave the school but I’m glad she was my college counselour this year.” Ms. Hamm is leaving Newark Academy in order to become the principal at the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women.

A longtime cornerstone of the Newark Academy faculty, Ms. Dougherty  spent a significant amount of time as the Academy’s Learning Specialist, Community Service coordinator, and Study Skills teacher. She has decided to return to her home state of Wisconsin to retire after working at the Academy since 1973. Mr. Rollenhagen recalled her early years at the school, saying, “When I first arrived, she was the head of cheerleading…[She’s] been very involved throughout her decades at Newark Academy…She’s helped who knows how many thousands of students through their careers here.”

Ms. Obydol, who is leaving Newark Academy after sixteen years of teaching French, says that she has mixed feelings about leaving the school after working at the Academy. “I will miss witnessing my students’ progress from Middle School through High School and their accomplishments thereafter.  It is also going to be extremely difficult to say ‘au revoir’ to my friends, who became my family, even though I am “only” going to be 6 hours away and I am a big user of Skype, Facetime, Aim, Facebook, Yahoo Messenger, Google Chat.” Whether it is dancing in the Faculty Dance piece or planning out the Middle School Cabaret, Ms. Obydol’s vivacious  presence will definitely be missed.

When asked about the effects of having six teachers leaving, Mr. Rollenhagen took a positive angle on the unfortunate departures, saying that it, “allows for some teachers to shuffle into the [teaching] assignments.” He added, on a positive note, that Newark Academy has already hired several new employees (whose names have not yet been disclosed) and is currently in the midst of hiring another.

Clearly, the Newark Academy community will sorely miss these outstanding teachers. They were excellent educators, but, more importantly, excellent friends. Despite the fact that these teachers won’t be here next year, the students will always have the memories of their classes to treasure.