Leaving a Legacy of Inspiration and Dedication After 32 years of service, Portsmouth Abbey bids a fond farewell to Janice Brady Science teacher Janice Brady has always been ahead of her time. Long before schools touted “experiential learning,” Janice was leading hands-on, experimental labs in her classroom. Long before schools turned their attention to the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), Janice was infusing her classes with real-world applications, helping students understand why this knowledge was vital. And not long before Portsmouth Abbey transitioned to coeducation in 1991, she joined the small group of female faculty members at the Abbey that included French teacher Nancy Brzys, Spanish teacher Kim Kalkus, Virginia Stone in the art department, and Reading and English Specialist Rosemary Fagan, paving the path for a strong female presence on campus. Last spring, Janice retired after 32 years of devoted service to the Abbey, and throughout her tenure, she has been the embodiment of the School’s mission: “love of learning — grounded in wonder, undertaken in humility, and fueled by the hunger for truth.” Admired by generations of students and by her colleagues, former Headmaster Jim DeVecchi describes Janice as kind, calm, compassionate and caring, and he said that she “had a profound impact on the lives of so many at Portsmouth.” Whether she was planning inventive science or chemistry lessons, working with students after hours to help them grasp the curriculum, or fueling her advisees with donuts and juice, Janice was a steadfast teacher who expected the best from herself and from her students. As the School community bids her farewell, it is with extreme gratitude for the mark she has left on the Abbey and on so many students’ lives.
Welcoming the Girls Janice moved into the third floor of Manor House in 1988, fresh from a teaching post at Bishop Feehan High
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School in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The apartment had not yet been renovated, and while it boasted magnificent views of Narragansett Bay, it also included the occasional visit from a field mouse. Three years later, the School welcomed 22 female day students for the first time, and Janice was key in easing the transition. Initially, the first floor of Manor House, which had been the school library, became the first girls’ congregation space. The next fall, St. Mary’s House opened to accommodate the first boarding girls. Then, in the third year of coeducation, Manor House opened as a girls’ residential House, and students were housed by Forms.
P ORTSM O U T H A BB E Y S C HO OL
