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School is 'educating young women for life' EDUCATION LEADER HEADS INTO 19th YEAR

September 25, 2007 12:35 am

TAPPAHANNOCK--Margaret Broad, head of school at St. Margaret's here, would be the first to say that the mission of "educating young women for life" takes every member of a dedicated faculty and staff.

But the administrator heading into her 19th year at the helm of the nationally recognized private school for girls would agree that her own educational experiences have affected how she's seen the job.

A key experience: the college math teacher who wouldn't talk to her in calculus.

"I was one of two girls in the class, and had planned to major in math until I was ignored that way," said Broad, from her office overlooking the Rappahannock River. "I quickly realized I didn't want to spend my life being ignored. I moved on to French."

She succeeded in that new academic track. But the memory of having her talents ignored because she was female became a motivating lesson once she found herself teaching young women.

"A single-sex high school allows a girl to define herself, instead of being defined by the culture or other people," she said. "That self-definition will sustain her through life."

The educator, who has taught French and other subjects at the school for girls in grades eight through 12, is sold on the advantages of a single-sex environment.

She's also a strong advocate for a program that teaches the 150 or so girls there skills from healthy eating to good decision-making to filling out tax forms.

Broad, who grew up in the the Chicago suburbs, also believes in the value of an expanded world view.

For Broad, that came from visiting France as a college student, a trip where she met her husband, David, an Englishman who grew up in France.

As a result of that trip, Broad put stock in "giving girls a large exposure to the world, at a younger age."

That can happen for St. Margaret's students in overseas trips and exchanges.

But the opportunity for an expanded world view also is embedded in the school itself.

By design, 17 percent of the student body is made up of international students, and another 17 percent are American students of color.

"We have students from 13 countries and 18 states, a dramatic change from not so long ago," said Broad.

Those students are teachers of sorts. They learn from each other about different backgrounds and cultures.

"We measured success when international students and American students of color were elected to leadership positions," said Broad. "It took eight years, but now it's part of the school culture."

There's more to running a school like St. Margaret's than educational theory.

Since moving up from teacher to academic dean to head of school, in 1989, Broad has overseen many changes:

The school owned three houses originally, but has more than 11 today. Officials have updated and improved faculty housing for a staff where 80 percent of employees live on campus.

The school has added a a new dormitory and $3.8 million technology building that provides a large dining room and high-tech science classrooms.

Under way is a sports complex that will soon add softball fields, several general-purpose fields, a cross country course and a faculty residence.

Admissions, which had sunk under 100, are back up to 150 or more.

Fundraising efforts have increased, and financial aid is provided to nearly 30 percent of students, at a school where tuition is $36,000 a year for boarding students.

These days, Broad has an assistant head of school who keeps daily details humming, while she is tasked with vision for the future.

But Broad is at chapel and opening announcements if she's on campus, knows every student's name by the second week of school and tries to find time to take eighth-graders for ice cream.

"From the first day here, teaching young women to be successful in life, I knew this was the place for me," she said. "It still is."