Mrs. Doyle is a 2nd and 3rd grade Learning Specialist at The Hewitt School as well as a parent of two Hewitt students. She has been a faculty member at The Hewitt School for four years, but has been involved with the school since her first daughter enrolled in Kindergarten in 1985. Her oldest daughter graduated from The Hewitt School in 1998, and her other is set to graduate next year. Both girls began at Hewitt in Kindergarten.
Q: What has kept you at Hewitt for so long?
JD: Even though I came here four years ago, I had a daughter who went here and graduated in 1998, so I've been here as a parent for a long time as well. So I've had a longstanding relationship with this school, and I love this school.
Q: Could you tell us a little about your first daughter's experience at Hewitt?
JD: She started in 1985 as a kindergartner, and what I really liked about the school at that time was that she got a lot of individual attention. In the beginning, she was a little hesitant about her reading. She had some issues, and the school was so nurturing and really got on top of everything and made a difference for her.
Q: Tell us a little about how you perceive the Hewitt School students.
JD: I think that the girls at Hewitt are all unique, individual, with some wonderful personalities. They are a community. They come together and are supportive and really wonderful to each other. They lean on each other. They help each other.
Academically, I think the girls work very hard to improve, and they strive in the Upper School to continue to learn. And I think they're very inspired by their teachers. From my experience with my daughter, she loved all of her teachers, and she wanted more and more. I think it changed her life - made her life better.
Q: How do you think the size of the school impacts the education?
JD: The smaller class size makes a big difference for the kids, especially in the Lower School when they're still trying to learn the basics and the mechanics. And if they work in smaller groups, of course, they're going to get the attention that they need to move on to the higher grades successfully.
Q: How did Hewitt play a role in your daughter's college preparation process?
JD: Hewitt played a very significant role. The guidance counselor was fabulous - she would call these girls at midnight and remind them, "You have to do x, y and z tomorrow. You have to have this in." She was unbelievable.
She really tried to look at each individual girl. She became an advocate for that student, and she spoke to the schools and she let them know what the students were really about, and I think that had an impact on their selection. The process is quite intense, but I felt very fortunate that I was at a place like Hewitt, that I could really talk to people one-on-one about what was best for my daughter. And she had what we feel was a successful experience. She graduated from Georgetown University last year!
I think Hewitt looks at the whole girl and what is best for her - her academics, her talents, her interests, her home life - in order to make a selection of colleges.
Q: How would you describe Hewitt in one word?
JD: Community
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