Director of Residential Life Andrew Barker was already a veteran of the boarding school world when he arrived at Fay in the fall of 2020. He started his boarding school journey as a fifth grader at Fessenden and then went on to attend Tabor Academy. Prior to Fay, Andrew taught at the Eaglebrook School and Rectory School, and in addition to his residential life duties, he currently teaches seventh grade Ancient World Cultures and coaches wrestling. Andrew and his wife Caitlin, a teacher at Bancroft School, live in Steward Middle with their two young children, Dean and Hazel, and their two dogs, Lily and Daphne.

 

Andrew took on the role of Director of Residential Life this year; he is excited to focus on building community within the residential life program and across the Upper School. Already, one popular change has been the introduction of regular all-Upper School Friday night events, where day students can stay on campus to attend movie nights, performances, dances, and even do some pumpkin carving with their boarding friends. We recently chatted with Andrew about the benefits of middle school boarding at Fay and his favorite historical era to teach.

 

 

It’s about the impact you can have on students at this age. Seventh, eighth, and

ninth graders are not set in their ways yet. They are figuring out who they are, and they need trusted adults to guide them— even more than they do in high school, where they are more independent. This role is a great fit for me because I like to have fun in and outside the classroom, but I also know how to provide the structure and routine that middle school students need.

 

 

Finding ways to build better and stronger connections between our faculty and our students and within our community is really important. On Sunday nights, for example, we have community time and do dorm competitions for “The Morty Cup.” It has been fun to see the students really get into that. We‘re also making small changes to encourage healthy living. We turn in tech a little earlier at night. Reducing blue light exposure from screens is helping the students sleep better, and it’s also giving them an extra 30 minutes of community or dorm time to hang out with friends in the evenings without having a screen in front of them.

 

 

Not having a commute is great! It gives our family the opportunity to do what we want to do, whether it's a day trip or just errands around town. We have accessibility to Boston and Worcester, as well as family and friends nearby. The Metrowest area is perfect for a junior boarding school because you are so close to everything, yet we have a beautiful rural setting. On a recent Sunday, we had a Cultural Day, and students could choose between a tour of Fenway Park, the American Heritage Museum, the Worcester Art Museum, or a trip to Hopkinton State Park. We really have the best of both worlds!

 

 

 

The ancient Greeks are fascinating because they are the foundation of Western civilization, but they have one foot in the Eastern world, as well. In Ancient World Cultures, I show the common themes among all these different civilizations. When we study Latin America, which had no

connections with the other civilizations, the culture still sees a similar progression as the Greeks, the Romans, and the Mesopotamians. There are human patterns of development that continue to occur into the present, and history continues to repeat itself.

 

 

My focus is on organizational skills: how to organize notes and how to organize and prepare for assessments. Many students haven't had that kind of formal training, and those skills are a huge advantage when they go into eighth grade. As teachers, we see the difference between the Fay seventh grader who had that training versus a student who didn’t, and those skills will carry them all the way through college and beyond. I also want to nurture a curiosity for history in my students. Ancient World Cultures is a survey course, but we encourage kids to dig deeper outside of class into areas they find fascinating. If you don’t find a particular civilization super interesting, there's definitely one later in the year that you will. It’s hard to leave Ancient World Cultures without enjoying the majority of the class and seeing how these civilizations built the foundation for our societies today.