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Faculty & Staff

Faculty & Staff

Blake’s success is firmly rooted in our faculty, staff and administrators, all of whom have a proven track record of professional success in their respective fields and who believe in Blake’s mission and core values.

Blake’s national reputation as leading independent school is a direct result of the thoughtfulness, innovation and lifelong value of its academic program, which is carefully designed and continually fine tuned by our teachers. In addition, Blake faculty are supported by eight Pre-K–12 department chairs, learning specialists, counselors, deans and other experts.

Our Commitment Beyond the Classroom

Blake believes a community is strengthened by dialog among peers and a broad sharing of innovative and best practices. The school is committed to recruiting and retaining talented, passionate and diverse professionals and offers them the training, resources and support they need to thrive.

Our teachers continually strive to improve their practice, and Blake has a well-defined and comprehensive professional development program that focuses is on the aspects of teacher practice that research indicates correlate most highly to improved student learning. Blake’s Effective Teaching Initiative (ETI), which is used as a model for other schools around the country, represents a full-scale effort to support the growth of all teachers at various stages of their career and at various levels of performance.

More than 73 percent of Blake’s teachers have advanced degrees and many faculty members have entered the classroom after having established careers in the field they now teach. Their expertise benefits students who gain a deeper understanding of subjects in which their teachers have extensive experience.

For more information regarding any of the materials within this section, or if you have any questions about professional development at The Blake School, please contact Assistant Head of School Rand Harrington at rharrington@blakeschool.org.

In a recent independent survey of Blake’s young alumni, over 95 percent agreed “the teachers at Blake demonstrate excellence.”

Faculty News

Explore the Business of Architecture

Public and private school teachers from all disciplines are invited to apply to the 34th annual Plank Institute. Participants will learn about the business of architecture, examining the roots of Minnesota architecture. Learn more about this summer opportunity.
The Oldest Book in America

In 2011, English teacher Mike Bazzett embarked on what he describes as "a foolhardy undertaking that for some reason I could not let go." Now his English translation of a centuries-old Mayan oral narrative is taking shape and getting published. Read more.
Announcing 2013 Fund for Teachers Fellows

Congratulations to Blake's 2013 Fund for Teacher Fellows: Alita Shenk, Diane Landis, Susan Graham and Stacy Swearingen. Fund for Teachers awards fellowships for summer learning experiences to PK-12 teachers, empowering them to pursue their passions to then pique student engagement.
Third Graders Take the Wheel

Kris Nelson was just test driving an idea when she had 21 of her third grade art students take a turn behind the pottery wheels in the Upper School ceramics room. By the end of class, she knew she’d be taking the lesson for another spin.
Gender Studies at Blake

By Scott Flemming, Director of Office of Equity and Community Engagement

In the new year, I will be teaching a course on gender studies at the Upper School for the first time, and I have found the preparation for it both edifying and humbling. I plan to open the class with a clip of President Obama speaking to a grieving nation and dabbing at his eyes, seemingly uncertain about how the most powerful man on earth is supposed to cry, if he is supposed to cry at all, and empathizing with the conditioning that led to his uncertainty.
Accolades for Middle School Arts Faculty

The Middle School arts department is rockin' with good news! Please join us in congratulating Dan LeJeune, Middle School choral director as well as Brian Sago, Middle School visual arts teacher.
Out of this World News for Mr. Cantrell

Please join us in congratulating Upper School math teacher Andy Cantrell whose paper "Jet spectral breaks in black hole X-ray binaries" was recently published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. Congratulations, Mr. Cantrell!
Mike Bazzett, Poet and Teacher

Faculty member and poet Mike Bazzett's book of poems, The Imaginary City, is now available for purchase online at the OW!Arts website here. The book is also being promoted on Facebook here - check it out and "like" it today! Congrats Mr. Bazzett!
Great Teachers Matter

Rand Harrington, Assistant Head of School

Although it is generally agreed to be a difficult task, the latest push toward performance-based compensation for teachers has pressed policy makers to better define “good teaching” and to find metrics to differentiate between “good” and “great.” Research supports what we have known for decades: great teachers matter.