Teacher-Coach Model

From the earliest days of the School, Dr. Howe, our founding headmaster, instilled the idea of teachers as coaches. As described in The Education of a Modern Boy, Dr. Howe pushed for the employment of only faculty coaches and for no professional coaches to be hired. He believed that professional coaches would take away from learning the meaning of true sportsmanship.

What is particularly notable in the teacher-coach model is the relationships faculty build with each boy. Sometimes a boy who is struggling in the classroom makes a connection with a coach and important lessons can be learned in this process. The heart of the teacher-coach model is that it creates a number of quality contact points for boys to forge relationships with teachers. Not every teacher connects with every boy, not every coach connects with every boy. But when you create enough of those contact points, somewhere along the way, a boy is going to make a connection and many times it's on the athletic side of campus.

A truer sportsmanship that develops character.

- FROM THE ATHLETIC PRINCIPLES OF DR. HOWE

Established in 2017 in memory of Maggie and John Ryan by the Ryan family—Ann, Tony, Matthew ’14, William ’17, and Thomas ’19, this chair honors a faculty member who exemplifies an ideal embraced by the School since its founding: excellence as both a teacher and a coach.

Recipient:
David L. Leonardis