Improving the learning community and inspiring students with the Chapin School's new Head of School Dr. Pamela Fiander

Dr. Fiander tells the Patch about her vision for Princeton’s Chapin School and some of her favorite pastime activities

Patch: What draws you to want to work at Chapin?

Dr. Fiander: Having worked in seven school districts and one independent school, and having served as an accreditation chair for more than ten schools, I can unequivocally say that Chapin is an extraordinary school. Its attention to detail, its focus on the habits of the mind and heart, its familial, engaging atmosphere, its unwavering belief in limitless futures—all speak to what I believe is good and right for children. This draws me to want nothing more than to be a part of it.

Patch: What makes you excited to join the Chapin community?

Dr. Fiander: I am deeply grateful for such a remarkable personal and professional opportunity to serve as the next Head of Chapin School. Life is about learning and growing. As all of the adults work together on behalf of Chapin’s children, I am confident that our combined efforts will continue providing the resources and inspiration for students to become their best selves. And, I can’t help but believe that we, too, will grow.

Patch: What are you looking forward to about working at Chapin School?

Dr. Fiander: I sincerely can’t wait to meet and get to know everyone. I want to learn more about why parents send their children to Chapin, why teachers and administrators work at Chapin, why trustees want to serve and, mostly, why the children love being a part of Chapin School. In building relationships, I will be able to learn more about what is important to the people who make up this vibrant learning community and help to envision what exciting possibilities lie before us.

Patch: Do you have a favorite author or book?

Dr. Fiander: My favorite author is Thomas Wolfe, who wrote Look Homeward, Angel, Of Time and the River, You Can’t Go Home Again, The Web and the Rock. He was absolutely prolific and died too young (38 years old).

Patch: What do you want the broad Chapin community to know about you?

Dr. Fiander: From the moment I attended first grade in Suitland, Maryland, and then moving to Illinois, New Jersey, Oklahoma, and back to New Jersey, I have always been “going to school”—either as a student, a teacher, a graduate school student, an administrator or an adjunct professor. I love being a part of a school community—because schools are places of eternal optimism and schools have the power to transform lives.

Patch: What’s your favorite quote (is it an even fair question for me to ask, since you are a collector of quotes)?

Dr. Fiander: “Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in life you will have been all of these.” (*Lloyd Shearer)

Patch: What is your vision for Chapin?

Dr. Fiander: Schools are, and always will be, “works in progress.” As dynamic organizations, schools must adapt to the exponentially changing world in which we live, yet remain steadfast stewards of a guiding mission.

The Chapin Board of Trustees set an important path with its strategic initiatives for program enhancements, high standards of sustainability, diversity and inclusion efforts, and assuring the long-term financial stability of the school. I am eager to help fully realize these important goals, while ever on the quest for creative ways in which we can continue to prepare students “to meet the future with skill, confidence, determination and generosity of spirit.” I just know it is going to be a wonderful journey.

Patch: What’s your favorite play(s) and/or movie(s)?

Dr. Fiander: I am very fond of musicals. Among my favorites are Les Miserables and Into the Woods.

Patch: What’s your favorite pastime activity?

Dr. Fiander: Cooking for family and friends.

Patch: What music do you enjoy most?

Dr. Fiander: My musical choices tend to be seasonal. In the winter, I listen to classical. In the spring, jazz. Summer takes me to my country and western roots and, in the fall, I enjoy popular music from the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s.