Christopher Marblo:
New Headmaster at Town School
by Joan Baum, Ph.D.
This summer, when Christopher Marblo completes
his first year as head of The Town School, a small, quiet pre-K
to 8, tucked away on a cobblestone street off The East River
at 76th, the 91-year old school will have already
moved on one of his recommendations—to increase diversity
among both students and faculty. A director of diversity, a
new position, is already on board and will be implementing
plans in the fall in accord with the headmaster's commitment
to maintain and enhance The Town School's reputation for delivering
rigorous academic preparation with compassion and sensitivity.
Town School students do well, Marblo notes, and gain acceptance
at some of the most prestigious upper schools in the city,
among them Trinity, Columbia Prep, Horace Mann and Fieldston,
not to mention the high-achieving public high schools. Admitting
a greater percentage of students of color and of children from
financially disadvantaged families—a population recently
cited by the president of Harvard as a target admissions area—is
just one of Marblo's carefully considered enthusiasms, and
given his affable, forthcoming, low-key manner, it seems fair
to say that what for many institutions might constitute a collision
course of tradition and innovation will be integrated with
ease at The Town School.
Tone is
set at the door. A visitor is immediately aware of an atmosphere
of welcome, a sense reinforced by new headmaster's sunny
confidence. He is also remarkably frank and modest, citing
as one reason the 382-student school rarely if ever experiences
difficulty, the fact that it does not run through the 12th
grade. A native Long Islander who is delighted to have come
home after years working in Maryland K-8 and middle schools,
Marblo seems to know intuitively that the key to success
in education is involving a school's various constituencies.
The Town faculty, parent, and trustee committees that meet
regularly, formally and at monthly coffee sessions, serve in
significant capacities without being intrusive. Marblo seems
to have managed a course between administrative support and
hands-off trust, with the result that the school seems unusually
relaxed—“stretched but not stressed”—secure
but not smug. There's something civilizing in the air, a culture
of respect for the value of courtesies and customs, a recognition
of the importance of a ritual such as dress-up Fridays, where
everyone comes together to hear students read poetry and perform.
Mentoring is central to The Town School mission,
with older children, Marblo's particular research focus, serving
as buddies to younger ones, that is, when faculty and staff
and the head master himself are not doing so. How many headmasters
can play mean guitar in the school band? (A son in the 8th grade
has struck out on his own—on drums). Music, in fact,
was Marblo's first major in college, before he went on to pursue
English literature, ethics, philosophy, religion, and finally,
on fellowship, education at Teachers College, Columbia. His
interest in adolescents, “who may be among the most maligned
group in America,” thanks to irresponsible media exploitation,
has led him to expand the media and literacy program and devise
a media and ethics course which he himself will teach. Teachers
are attracted to The Town School, he says, because of its emphasis
on real world modeling of the disciplines. That means that
teachers are not only specialists in their subject but know
how professionals work. Of course, there is also the school's
generous support of faculty by way of professional development,
funds for travel, graduate study, and special summer projects,
all designed to encourage interdisciplinary study and a collaborative
exchange of ideas. Clearly, at The Town School community is
at the heart of educating the mind.#
