Dr. Tanya Hyatt is Building the

Foxcroft’s new Assistant Head of School answers questions about education, teaching teens, and her new role at Foxcroft.

By Cristina Santiestevan

1996

You hold a Ph.D. in nutrition and spent some time working in a laboratory during your post doc years. How did you find your way to education?

I got into education about 14 years ago. I thought I was going to try it for a year. [laughs] I really thought it was going to be temporary because I didn’t think high school was where I wanted to go. But I immediately and deeply fell in love with teaching teenagers.

Why do you think that is?

I think my adulthood has brought me a lot of patience, and I think that is just the right thing for working with teenagers. Just sitting and being with them and all of their energy. It was just wonderful and grounding. It made me feel connected to something. And so, work became a passion for me.

What were your teaching years like?

I loved teaching. I taught AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, and human anatomy and physiology. That was always the kids’ favorite. I took it to a place where we were really letting them learn about their bodies. We spoke about it in very clinical terms, which made it easier for them to ask questions. Especially when we got to something sensitive, like the reproductive system. They could just speak very clinically because we used the correct terminology. And then our conversations could go from there.

What started your transition from the classroom to administration?

I ended up having some really deep conversations with my students about things like consent. Somewhere in school, they had a sex education class where some of these girls were told that if they dressed a “certain way,” they could be expecting... And I was just like, ‘What? Wait, what? Time out. Time for a different conversation.’

That got me talking with my Head of School. I was still full-time in the classroom at that point, but I had been wanting administrative experience, and this was the moment. Because now I was not just thinking about the students in my classroom. I was thinking about everyone in that senior class. I had 20 students in that classroom, but there were 72 seniors who were going to graduate that year. That meant there were 52 other students who wouldn’t get this message about consent. Well, they did. We had an all-senior program at the end of the year so that nobody graduated without hearing these very important messages about consent and our bodies, how we talk about them, and what’s healthy and what’s not.

For a while there, you juggled teaching and administrative roles. Now at Foxcroft, you are fully out of the classroom in your new role as Assistant Head of School. How has that transition been? Do you miss the classroom?

It's been a big transition. I loved teaching. Most days, it was the absolute best part of my day. But there were days when some of my administrative work made it more challenging to give my all in the classroom.

In my previous role, I was doing a whole lot of meeting with people and trying to troubleshoot different areas of campus, and then I was having to stop what I was doing and run across campus to the classroom to teach. It wasn’t always easy to switch roles mentally, so I wondered if my students were really getting my best.

So I’ve found it quite wonderful to be able to devote my full attention to the student sitting in front of me, or the faculty member who needs my attention, or the administrator who needs to talk, or this meeting that needs to happen. It’s a lot easier to make those things happen now.

What was it about Foxcroft that caught your eye?

The first thing I would do when looking at a school was go to their website and click on academics. I looked at math. I looked at the science electives. Tons of electives. I looked at English. I looked at history. Lots of options. Arts. Lots of options.

I was struck by the variety of classes these students can choose from. And with such a small student body, I knew these classes must be small, which means they’re getting a lot of attention. So that was what I was excited about and what really struck me about Foxcroft.

Now that you’re here, are there any academic programs that especially stand out?

The EP (Exceptional Proficiency) program. To me, it is a hallmark program of the school because it allows girls to do what they do best, which is learning out in the world. Hands-on. So they are getting these experiences that are super important. For their own development, for whatever it is that’s coming next.

Has life on campus been what you expected?

It has. The community here is lovely. I expected that, and it’s true. So that has been delightful.

Any surprises?

Yes, but it’s more about the area around campus. I didn’t get to see a lot of the surrounding area before moving here. But Middleburg is precious. It is just adorable. And Purcellville isn’t very far away, which has tons of shopping and groceries and things like that.

You know, when you look at it just on a map, and you see the little cities and towns all separated by all that green, you don’t see anything about them other than the dot on the map. So getting here and figuring that out has been super fun.