Dear Members of the Castilleja School Board of Trustees:
I am hereby removing my painting, Birds of the Stanford Foothills, from its position outside Joan Lonergan's office, where it has been on long-term loan to Castilleja School since appearing in the Alumnae Art show in 2008.
I do this as a symbol of the damage to the Castilleja arts program at that has been done by the dismissal of Bear Capron.
I do this to express my vehement disagreement with this decision: Bear Capron was one of the best, most inspirational teachers at Castilleja, and his removal from campus can only do harm to the students and the reputation of the school. I was one of many shy students who flowered onstage thanks to his amazing energy and skilled direction, and as one of his advisees I was kept afloat through my most challenging years at Castilleja by his positive spirit. In recent years, I have been particularly impressed by Castilleja's increasingly sophisticated, challenging dramatic performances under Mr. Capron's aegis, and I strongly oppose any change in the overall direction of the dramatic arts.
I do this to make clear my disappointment and shock at the closed, secretive way in which Mr. Capron's dismissal was carried out. The lack of information (or even basic acknowledgement that our concerns were being heard) given to the students, faculty, alumnae, and community--for six weeks!--was truly appalling and disheartening. The damage done to faculty morale, students' free speech, alumnae relations with the school, and the ability of the school to attract and retain excellent teachers may be irreparable.
I do this to emphasize that "good faith discussions" over "pedagogical differences" with a teacher--especially one with 20-years' devotion to Castilleja--should never result in the sudden, unexplained removal of that teacher from the school in the middle of classes and ongoing productions. Furthermore, the decision to terminate one of the school's faculty members should at least be given enough thought that the name of the school itself is spelled correctly in the official statement provided to the community.
Clearly, this incident shows that Castilleja has strayed from its mission of providing the best possible education for its students, and that it has strayed from every one of the five Cs:
Courage; Charity; Conscience; Courtesy; Character.
I am withdrawing all financial and other contributions to Castilleja School until I see an apology to the entire Castilleja community over this debacle, and clear evidence that the school has returned to its core values. All eyes are on you to make up for this terrible chapter in Castilleja's history.
With great sadness,
Eliza K. Jewett
Class of 1992
If you would like to post a letter, send it to post@fivecs.org.
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