AUGUST 20 • 2020 | 21
A
s a former student who
began his academic career
in the public schools
outside of Boston but then transi-
tioned to a private school environ-
ment, Rich Dempsey knows the
transformative power of a private
school education.
“There were doors that opened
that I never knew existed,
” he
said about his attendance at St.
George’
s School in Newport,
R.I. “The relationships and con-
nections students had with each
other and adults in that commu-
nity were extraordinary. That’
s
true for every private school. It
was magnetic.
”
Now, Dempsey plans to share
that experience with students
at Detroit Country Day School
in Beverly Hills. Dempsey, the
former Associate Head of School
at Pomfret School in Pomfret,
Conn., has taken over leader-
ship of Detroit Country Day as
Head of School, effective July 1.
He replaces Glen Shilling, who
served as Headmaster since 2007.
Dempsey has 24 years of
administrative and teaching
experience in independent day
and boarding schools. He began
his career in education as chem-
istry and math teacher at St.
George’
s, where he also served
as an advisor, dorm parent and
head coach of hockey and base-
ball. He also held leadership and
administrative positions, includ-
ing Director of Summer Session
and Associate Dean of Students,
while continuing to teach in the
classroom.
When Dempsey, his wife
Mary and their seven-year-old
son Teddy were looking to make
a move, Dempsey said he did
a national search for his next
career opportunity, ideally as
head of a private school.
“I wanted to be the head of the
right school, a school that had an
extraordinary educational com-
munity,
” he said. “I wanted to not
only work with older students
but with younger students too. I
wanted to find that school that I
felt prepared kids best.
”
Dempsey found that in
Detroit Country Day, which was
established 106 years ago by F.
Alden Shaw, a Harvard-educated
Minnesotan who wanted to
create a school that emphasized
academic rigor and preparedness
for higher education as well as
the immersion of students in
athletics and the arts. DCDS stu-
dents also draw on the school’
s
traditions of character-building,
mutual respect among them-
selves and faculty, and the skills
to embrace social and personal
responsibility.
Dempsey began working with
school administrators and staff
in March. He said he recalls his
visit to DCDS in May 2019 as a
finalist for the position.
“One can only be over-
whelmed by the warmth and
strong sense of community that
we have here at Detroit Country
Day,
” he said, characterizing
those he met as “real, authentic
and genuine.
”
“This school community
embraces tradition while also
evolving, modernizing and
accepting change,
” he said.
As Head of School, Dempsey
says he’
ll be drawing on his expe-
rience at Pomfret School, as well
as his time spent at Rocky Hill
School in East Greenwich, R.I.,
where he served as Head of the
Upper School for five years.
Dempsey graduated from
Bowdoin College with a bach-
elor’
s degree in biochemistry
and extensive work in English.
He earned a Master’
s of
Education Degree in Educational
Administration from Boston
University and completed
a National Association of
Independent Schools Fellowship
for Aspiring Heads of School.
Dempsey’
s vision for the
current and future Detroit
Country Day School is one
focused on students rather than
a teacher-based model empha-
sizing lectures.
“Education must switch to …
one that focuses on the individ-
ual student and is skills based
and content rich,
” he said. “The
skills-focused model that schools
need to follow will allow for
students to develop skills includ-
ing learning to think critically,
how to be creative, how to be a
strong communicator, how to be
a thoughtful listener, and how to
be able to champion your own
ideas. That’
s critical in this day
and age.
”
Dempsey said it’
s also impera-
tive to prepare kids for jobs that
don’
t exist yet, and to impart the
knowledge that today’
s world is
much more diverse and inter-
connected. He wants to promote
deeper and more meaningful
learning experiences and an
education that is both thoughtful
and project based.
Like all schools, Detroit
Country Day has had to adapt
to the current coronavirus pan-
demic. Dempsey sees this as not
only an opportunity to assimilate
to the rapidly changing times but
to embrace the moment as an
opportunity to look long term at
DCDS’
s future.
“We need to shift our practice
to provide more enhanced edu-
cational opportunities for our
students,
” he said. “We recognize
that this is a moment to step
back and evaluate thoroughly
our student experience from the
perspective of their well-being,
resiliency, and perseverance.
It is also time to reflect on our
empathy for and appreciation of
others. This moment calls for us
to reinvent, pivot and make an
even better overall experience for
all our students.
”
Detroit Country Day
School welcomes
Rich Dempsey as new
Head of School
BY ELIZABETH KATZ
SPONSORED BY DETROIT COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
DETROIT COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
22305 West 13 Mile Road
Beverly Hills, MI 48025
248.646.7717
dcds.edu
LINDSAY LEHMANN