Lang listening, learning in first year at Fayetteville's New School

NWA Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Nancy Lang, head of school at The New School, sings a Christmas carol Dec. 21 with students at the Fayetteville school. Lang received her bachelor's degree from Cornell University, then spent about three years in the Air Force before moving into education.
NWA Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/DAVID GOTTSCHALK Nancy Lang, head of school at The New School, sings a Christmas carol Dec. 21 with students at the Fayetteville school. Lang received her bachelor's degree from Cornell University, then spent about three years in the Air Force before moving into education.

FAYETTEVILLE -- Nancy Lang has been all ears in her first year as The New School's head of school.

Lang has been on a "structured listening tour," holding small group meetings with parents, students and staff members to better understand the nearly 50-year-old private school, she said.

About Nancy Lang

• Massachusetts native

• Received bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Cornell University

• Received master’s degree in mathematics from the University of Massachusetts

• Was commissioned officer in the Air Force

• Began career in education as a middle school math teacher at The Miami Valley School in Dayton, Ohio

• She and husband, Corbin, have been married 22 years and have three children

Source: Staff report

She wants to know why they chose The New School, what keeps them there and what they see as the school's biggest challenges. She also asks them about their favorite place on campus, because that "sort of tells you where their emotional tie is," she said.

"It's just helping me to understand the community and what the next step for the school should be, instead of coming in and imposing who I am on the school," Lang said.

She wants to define what academic rigor and success look like in an environment also fostering students' emotional and intellectual intelligence, she said.

Lang, 54, was hired in fall 2018 and started in July. The school has 380 students in preschool through 12th grade. She aims to learn each student's name by the end of the school year.

Lang came from Jackson, Wyo., where she spent four years as head of school at Journeys School, which had about 200 students in preschool through 12th grade. Before that, she worked for 22 years at Phillips Academy in her hometown of Andover, Mass., where she taught high school math, coached cross country and track and field, and was a dormitory house counselor and adviser.

In 2010, she was appointed Phillips Academy's associate dean of faculty. The dean of faculty at the time, Temba Maqubela -- now head of The Groton School, another Massachusetts private school -- is expected to introduce Lang at her official installation ceremony in February.

Lang received her bachelor's degree from Cornell University, then spent about three years in the Air Force before moving into education.

Stacey Sturner of Fayetteville has two sons who attend The New School. Jan is a senior, and Will is a freshman. Both play basketball and tennis at the school. Lang is the right person for the job, Sturner said.

"She brings a range of knowledge and experience," Sturner said. "She's an approachable leader. There is a family atmosphere at The New School, and she is a great leader for that type of environment."

John Wright, The New School's board chairman, said Lang's passion for education and her ability to work with all of the constituents in the school's community, from students to parents to faculty, make Lang a good fit.

Edward Prewitt, a New School board member who was chairman during the search that landed Lang, said her experience as a teacher and a head of school is outstanding.

"You combine that with her demeanor and her decision-making, the way she views education, and she's such a great fit for The New School and for Fayetteville," Prewitt said.

The New School is on its fifth head of school -- including two who served on an interim basis -- since founding head Bill Mandrell stepped down in 2011. Prewitt said he believes Lang will bring long-term stability to the position.

"I feel confident about that. That was one of the main things we were looking for, was someone who wanted to be at the school and grow it," he said.

The New School already has grown quite a bit in the past few years. Three new buildings totaling about 61,000 square feet opened on the campus in 2017.

The school has been adding grade levels and will graduate its first class of seniors in May. There are 11 seniors this year. The junior class has a few more students than that, Lang said.

What is the school's ideal capacity? That's something the school is working on defining.

"If we just looked at building capacity, that might be one number," Lang said. "But if we look at what we think the right size of the school is, I think that would be a different number. We want to remain small enough to have that community feel."

Lang wants to increase diversity at the school, making it accessible to more people to reflect the community's demographics.

"Because the more diversity you have in a classroom, the better it is for all students. The learning is so much richer," she said.

Lang is an outdoors enthusiast and an avid runner. She's run several ultra marathons, which is any race longer than a marathon.

Her biggest running accomplishment came in October 2013 when she completed a 100-mile race covering parts of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. It took her 28 hours. She had hoped to finish within 24 hours but said the cold weather at night slowed her down.

"But it was great. I loved it," she said.

Running, hiking and being outdoors help balance the stress she encounters in her work life, Lang said.

"In order to fuel the tank, you have to have something," she said.

NW News on 01/06/2020

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