Deb Deverell, Head of School
Deb was named Head of School in July of 2013. She joined Paddington after a fourteen-year appointment with Vail Mountain School in Vail, Colorado, where she served as Director of Lower School. Prior to that appointment, she worked as the Assistant Director to Lower School at the Santa Catalina School in Monterey, California. She also taught kindergarten and first grade at St. Anne’s Episcopal School in Denver. In 2009, she completed her doctorate from The University of Denver, College of Education, in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. “(De)Composing a Garden of Children’s Play” was the title of her dissertation. In her spare time, she enjoys skiing, snowshoeing, reading, knitting, gardening and time with family and friends.
For the past 38 years, I have worked in various school communities in the United States and abroad. I have chosen this life’s work because I cannot imagine anything else so meaningful. Any given hour of any given day offers me the privilege of helping a child
grasp a critical concept for the first time. From that moment springs countless others: sharing with parents the news of a child’s progress; facilitating a teachers’ meeting; discussing best practices with colleagues; watching a gifted teacher teach from the heart.
I have wanted to be an educational professional for as long as I can remember, and I have found the job to be one of constant renewal and inspiration.
Our role in the education of children is to encourage and sustain wonder, and to instill curiosity and a commitment to lifelong learning. We want children to challenge themselves, and we want them to challenge ideas, conventions and convictions, and theories. We want them not to just find a better way to do something, but to think critically about the world and everything they do in it.
Learning is an embrace of the world. We want to cultivate thoughtful, caring individuals- young people who grow up to be stewards of their communities and of their relationships within them. In order to facilitate these life skills, students need to be in learning communities that encourage creative expressions, social responsibility and the joyful pursuit of knowledge.
I believe it essential that children see adults fully engaged in the passions of the learning process. My job as a school leader is exciting, complex, and demanding. New responsibilities arise continually. A school culture that embraces open communication, transparency and the highest levels of professional integrity is important to me. As an administrator, I take seriously my obligations to be a head teacher and instructional leader, and a committed lifelong learner myself.
grasp a critical concept for the first time. From that moment springs countless others: sharing with parents the news of a child’s progress; facilitating a teachers’ meeting; discussing best practices with colleagues; watching a gifted teacher teach from the heart.
I have wanted to be an educational professional for as long as I can remember, and I have found the job to be one of constant renewal and inspiration.
Our role in the education of children is to encourage and sustain wonder, and to instill curiosity and a commitment to lifelong learning. We want children to challenge themselves, and we want them to challenge ideas, conventions and convictions, and theories. We want them not to just find a better way to do something, but to think critically about the world and everything they do in it.
Learning is an embrace of the world. We want to cultivate thoughtful, caring individuals- young people who grow up to be stewards of their communities and of their relationships within them. In order to facilitate these life skills, students need to be in learning communities that encourage creative expressions, social responsibility and the joyful pursuit of knowledge.
I believe it essential that children see adults fully engaged in the passions of the learning process. My job as a school leader is exciting, complex, and demanding. New responsibilities arise continually. A school culture that embraces open communication, transparency and the highest levels of professional integrity is important to me. As an administrator, I take seriously my obligations to be a head teacher and instructional leader, and a committed lifelong learner myself.
