Nicole DuFauchard
Head of School
The Advent School
Boston
Photos by Kelly Davidson
This is an excerpt from the NAIS Member Voices podcast.
Tell us about your role. How did you get here?
I worked in higher ed for a long time. I worked in some nonprofits and community outreach. Then I found my rhythm at my first independent school as the director of multicultural affairs. We were at the forefront of being conscientious and aware of the diversity in the world, and in my role, I wanted to set a path for that in a meaningful way. I got involved with development, admission, and curriculum, and saw all the things that independent schools are doing. That’s when I found my love for independent schools as a whole.What’s your favorite part of your role?
I’m in my sixth year now. It’s an interesting role; there are things that you could never be prepared for. In my second year, we were in the process of buying a building in downtown Boston, and all of a sudden, I knew more about historic property than anybody should. You have to be a quick study. I love to say the scope of my job is what I love the most. I could have a kindergartener in my office who got a bead stuck up their nose, and I could be at the mayor’s office with blueprints trying to figure out how we’re going to negotiate a new building. The array of work that you get in an eight-hour day is phenomenal.What’s your communication style?
I’m pretty authentic in my voice. What you see is what you get. I’m excited about what we do, and so there’s a passion that comes out pretty clearly. I’m not so certain I would be a good head in some other spaces. I think this community understands me, and I understand them. We live our mission in a really meaningful way. I like relationships, so I know everyone really well—200 kids and 158 families. I know their siblings, their cousins, who drops them off, and their nannies and their sitters, and their grandparents. I don’t worry about my voice as much because I know they know the passion I have for the school and that the things we’re doing, even when we’re having really hard conversations, come down to making us a better community.What keeps you up at night?
Knowing of all the competitiveness of private, public, charter, and for-profit schools, and new ways of teaching, you have to clarify your value and make sure you’re looking at the bottom line. How do you have a business and a school at the same time? As a head, it feels heavy to have to stop and think about what program we’re doing and think about budget in a different way because of enrollment.
Head of School Nicole DuFauchard visits Ariane Kramer’s second-grade classroom. Photo by Kelly Davidson
Where do you turn for inspiration?
I have an amazing cohort of heads both locally and nationally who I can call on the phone. I want to know what other schools are thinking about when we talk about being innovative and to see what other communities are working on. I want to know what they’re struggling with and what they’re succeeding at.The best resource for faculty and administrators is other faculty and administrators. Sometimes we find ourselves locked in our spaces where we’re doing good work, but we never get a chance to lean back, view, compare and contrast, and speak a shorthand with somebody who gets the kinds of things that you get. My goal for our faculty is to get out of this building. I want them to be inspired by the stuff that other people are doing, and see it and feel it, and be able to have good discussions. Then I want to give administrators and faculty some time to be collaborative in that conversation.
What advice has really stuck with you?
I think it was Reveta Bowers, who said to me when I was looking at schools, find a place that you love. She said, you know when it’s really good, it’s amazing. When it’s really bad, it’s terrible. And so, if you know that you believe in what you’re doing and the mission aligns with who you are and what you want to do, it’s easy to get up in the morning even when it’s terrible. She also said there is no work-life balance. It’s about managing the imbalance, which I appreciate a lot because it cuts you some slack to know that sometimes you’re going to be really great as head of school and not so great as a parent. And sometimes you’re going to be a really awesome parent and not such a great head of school.And Danielle Heard, head of Nashoba Brooks School (MA), told me about pocket snacks, which I thought was an amazing idea: Snacks you can keep in your pocket, so you can eat along the way, because sometimes you’re so busy you can go a whole day without eating.
What’s been your biggest surprise as head of school?
I’m not a person who’s often taken aback by things, but there have been times when I’ve been in awe and completely saddened and/or extremely excited. I like to give myself some time to reflect, because there’s so many things that happen and I’m like OK: This is a thing; this is a thing that’s going to happen today. We’re going to have a resolution or some sort of process of what’s next. Schools are organic, and I’m more shocked about how they engulf you in really specific ways. I have the professional skill set heads are supposed to have, but the nuances are amazing. In a good way, and a really bad way, too.What are you reading right now?
I’m reading We Are the Animals by Justin Torres, an amazing Puerto Rican author who talks about growing up in upstate New York with his three brothers. I’m also rereading The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, and it’s about the Vietnam War. I like to reread stuff. Last winter, I read Lord of the Flies, 1984, and Animal Farm. I’ve read To Kill a Mockingbird three times in the past two years.What items have you taken from desk to desk throughout the years?
I’m a huge Wonder Woman fan. She’s everywhere in my office; the kids bring me Wonder Woman stuff, parents give me Wonder Woman things now. She’s definitely my inspiration always.What do few people know about you?
I walked out of my office last week, and I said, I think I’ve officially turned into my mother. There were these two sides of her: She was the Equal Employment Opportunity Director for Army Europe and so she worked with generals and high-ranking civilian officials, and then she would get home, and she was the biggest geek ever. I’m pretty mellow at home. I love nothing more than to be cuddled in some tube socks and a hoodie, listening to some Biggie Smalls.What are you most proud of?
I have an 11-year-old who loves to say, in true head-of-school fashion, I’m in my 12th year, not 11th. Watching him in this space has been really phenomenal. When we interviewed and we were appointed, we brought my son to visit. I said to my husband, I am completely in awe of this place. I’m totally excited and I want to be here—and I want to know that this is the right space for my son.Watching him from kindergarten to now sixth grade be this really amazing intentional person, to want to dig deeper, build relationships with other adults not just because he’s the head of school’s kid but because he’s an Advent kid, is really amazing to me. The excitement of everybody asking us where he will go next year after he finishes sixth grade is going to be a really cool process. I think that he could really participate in that conversation of what kind of school he wants to be a part of right now.
Listen to the full interview with Nicole DuFauchard on the NAIS Member Voices podcast. Download it now at iTunes, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Stitcher, or GooglePlay. Rate, review, and subscribe to hear a new episode each month.
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