Tompkins Named New St. Ann’s Head

By on May 20, 2010 12:07 am in News, schools

The search for the third person to be head of St. Ann’s School is over.

New York Times: Saint Ann’s School, the prestigious and progressive Brooklyn Heights school, has selected Vincent Tompkins, the deputy provost of Brown University, to be its new headmaster.

Mr. Tompkins, 48, who takes over on July 1, said he was drawn to the school by the students’ “remarkable sense of confidence and joy about learning.”

The founder of St. Ann’s, Stanley Bosworth, served as headmaster from the School’s opening in 1965 until 2004. He was succeeded by Lawrence Weiss, previously head of the Horace Mann Upper School in the Bronx, who, according to the Times article, “signed on for five years but stayed an extra year at the board’s request.” Tompkins holds a PhD. in history from Harvard, and taught history there before becoming an administrator. He later was made Deputy Provost at his undergraduate alma mater, Brown.

Share this Story:

, , , ,

  • gollygee

    do most people around here even know this school exists?
    i understand that the annual school fee just about equates to my totaL annual salary. OK so an elite-school grad now comes to oversee the prep school education of the offspring children of trust funders and stock robbers. glad i know now.

  • ashton

    The new headmaster can bond with his students over smokes on any street corner in the vicinty of Pierrepont Street.

  • Nancy

    Gollygee-your comments show your ignorance. Its a local news story of interest. St. Ann’s is not a prep school, and not everyone who attends there is a richie rich. If the parent’s can afford it, why should you be bitter? It’s not a crime in this country to make money, at least not that I am aware of.

    aston: sure, like every other high school in the country.

  • north heights res

    Saint Ann’s is absolutely a prep school, in the true “college preparatory” sense–its good reputation is nearly always tied to the list of colleges to which its students are admitted.

    Given the lack of knowledge of basic apostrophe use in your post, Nancy, you might be careful whom you call “ignorant.”

  • Mike

    And you, Mr. North Heights Res, might benefit from some knowledge of the em-dash.

  • nabeguy

    Wow, a Strunk & White throw-down. I hope the students are paying attention to this.

  • Nancy

    I’m not really concerned about the grammer lesson; while typing I always give leeway to apostrophes. As for St. Ann’s reputation, those who go to the school choose it because of the love of the arts, the unparalleled quality of the teachers, and the absolute joy of learning that they impart to their sutdents. Unless you are part of it, it’s hard to understand. (Tried not to be free and easy with the punctuation this time, but still may not be perfect. For that I beg forgiveness.)

  • north heights res

    Does AP style govern the BHB, Mike? I was unaware. And it’s Ms.

    And as a long-time teacher at one of the schools in the neighborhood, I guess that I’d say that I’m a “part of it.” It’s super-refreshing to hear that St. Ann’s widely publicized college list has nothing to do with family decisions about attending the school.

    And you’re close, but it’s “grammar,” not “grammer,” neither of which has anything to do with apostrophes.

  • nabeguy

    Folks, let(‘)s focus on what we(‘)re saying and not the way we(‘)re saying it. ‘Kay?

  • ashton

    st ann’s is not a school for the richie rich?
    gimme a break.

    it’s brooklyn grammar, nu?

  • digby

    ashton – let’s not confuse “rich” with “wealth”. I believe Chris Rock addresses this very well here:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kglXIoiXDFM
    i would venture to say that most of the kids at this prep palace benefit from the latter, not the former.

  • AEB

    Ah, class warfare! As American as…class warfare….