School Committee Leadership

Outgoing Clerk Barbara Rose Caldwell Reflects on Nearly Three Decades of Service and Commitment to MFS

What inspires a person to dedicate time and energy to an institution over many years? As I end my service as Clerk of the Moorestown Friends School Committee, I am reflecting on that question. My involvement with the school dates to 1993 and includes teaching, administrative work, and seven years as a trustee including the last four as Clerk. I will continue my service as Assistant Clerk. I live in Media, PA, so this commitment has required hours of driving and innumerable crossings of the Betsy Ross Bridge! There are two keys that have sustained this long commitment.

First, I have had the privilege to work with inspired and inspiring school leaders, exceptional teachers, dedicated support workers, and, of course, my fellow trustees. To list them all would exceed my assigned word count but I will single out a few. I have worked with three heads of school: Alan Craig, Larry Van Meter, and Julia de la Torre. The school’s on-going success as an institution that educates students imbued with a sense of what it means to live purposeful, compassionate, and ethical lives is rooted in their leadership. I have been fortunate to work with all three and to participate in the hiring of Julia de la Torre. The clerks who preceded me, Bill Guthe, Naoji Moriuchi, and Nick Smith, left me a legacy of competent and empathetic leadership. Finally, Ruth Chen and Steve Zakroff provided me as Clerk with the kind of support leaders dream of, especially during this last ZOOMcentric year.

Second, moral clarity: Moorestown Friends School lives its mission. As a result, people like me are more than willing to spend our time and energy espousing and supporting that mission. I have worked on three strategic plans, each a reflection of the time when it was written but each dedicated to enhancing and extending the school’s commitment to educating the whole child/student. That commitment means that students’ experience at MFS is full of in-depth learning, service to others, and meaningful engagement with what it means, in Socrates’ words, to live “an examined life.” Our newest strategic plan focuses on three areas: environmental stewardship, global connections, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. These strategic directions exemplify how deeply the school takes its responsibility to make visible Quaker principles and beliefs and to put those values and beliefs into action. I am leaving this role in the competent hands of Ivy Brown, whose connections to MFS precede mine. Ivy, who is the first nonQuaker clerk of the School Committee, is an example of the universality of Quakerism. (In 2011, the School Committee amended its bylaws to provide that either the Clerk or the Assistant Clerk must be a member of the Religious Society of Friends; previously the Clerk was required to be a Quaker.) You don’t have to be a member of the Society of Friends to resonate with the foundational Quaker premises of the Inner Light and continuing revelation. Available to all who are open to them, these principles teach us that every person can seek guidance within and can be open to new ideas and leadings. Ivy will ensure that MFS remains dedicated to its Quaker roots.

I am grateful to this wonderful community and look forward to my continuing involvement on the School Committee.

Barbara Rose Caldwell

New School Committee Clerk Ivy Brown ’89 Brings Lifelong MFS Experience to Leadership Role

My Moorestown Friends School journey dates back to being a kindergartener here in 1976. And now, 45 years later, it all comes full circle as I have the honor of taking on the role of School Committee Clerk. Dedication to MFS has been a constant in my life. To some degree, I never left after graduating. I’ve been our Class of ’89 representative working to keep alumni connected. For the last 14 years, I’ve been an MFS parent with our two children starting here in Preschool. All along, with my husband, Micah Buchdahl, we have participated in financially supporting MFS, consistently contributing to the Annual Fund and other fundraising projects. I worked on the Strategic Plan in 2011 and joined the School Committee in 2016. I co-clerked the most recent Strategic Planning Process, and have served the last two years as Assistant Clerk of the School Committee.

My experiences at MFS as a student and parent have shaped me as a learner, listener, leader, mentor, and contributor. This esteemed institution, with its dedicated faculty and staff, nurtured within me a joy of learning and fostered my curiosity across many disciplines of study. It provided a foundation, along with my parents’ teaching and support, to make me the person I am today. The tenets of The Religious Society of Friends are congruent with my own spiritual beliefs and values – remaining as relevant today as they were back in the 17th century when Quakerism was founded by George Fox. And, perhaps now more than ever, these principles connect with so many of us in providing our children with the support that they need to go forth into the world.

I have spent the last four years working closely with fellow trustees to support and shape the forward-looking strategies that will ensure the longevity and relevancy of MFS. Working closely with our Head of School, Julia de la Torre, has been a remarkable experience. We are so lucky to have her here. Who better to have led us through the challenges of the pandemic than Julia? I have seen, heard, and felt Julia’s perspectives on education, her commitment to fostering a greater focus on student well-being, and her empathetic and passionate vision for what our students, faculty, staff, and administrators can experience in our school’s next chapter. I look forward to continuing to partner with trustees in supporting Julia and her leadership team as they implement initiatives that deliver upon the core areas of focus coming out of the 2021 Strategic Plan.

The members of the MFS community are supportive of one another. Our faculty, staff, and administrators are here because they believe in the mission of the School. They want to contribute to an educational environment where our children are guided to become insatiable learners and active contributors to our communities through service and leadership. MFS is truly a special place – our faculty engage with us as parents and guardians. They know our kids, offering them opportunities to grow and learn. They support the intellectual and spiritual journeys of the students, and inspire them to be better people. They help to personify the Quaker principle of ‘letting one’s life speak.’

I would like to especially thank Barbara Caldwell, outgoing Clerk of the School Committee, for her counsel, friendship, camaraderie, and kindness over the past few years. I look forward to continuing to work with her in this coming year.

Micah and I are so grateful to be able to provide Lily ’22 and Ben ‘26 with the invaluable foundation of MFS to shepherd their emotional and intellectual growth as well as their social-action orientation. I look forward to seeing you on campus soon. Please feel free to reach out and connect with me at any time. Ivy Brown School Committee Clerk Ivy Brown ’89 (right) pictured with (l to r): son Ben Buchdahl ’26, husband Micah Buchdahl, and daughter Lily Buchdahl ’22.

Ivy Brown is the Global Brand lead with DXC Technology. Formerly, she was Senior Vice President, Head of Brand, Social Impact and Diversity Marketing at TD Bank, and prior to that she was Vice President - Brand Marketing, Creative Advertising and Media with TIAA. She worked for 18 years at Johnson & Johnson with her final position there as Senior Marketing Director, Global Brand Management, ACUVUE Brand. She has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis, and an M.B.A. in marketing/ marketing management from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She and her family reside in Moorestown.