Dexter Mahaffey
Head of School - Appointed 2014
Graduate Degrees
- M.A. English, Bread Loaf School of English
- Ph.D. English, University of Louisville
Undergraduate Degree
- B.A., Middlebury College
Inspirational Quote
“What you want to do as a teacher is to make people aware of the complexity of experience, of the complexity of the world—that our little corner is real and very important, but it’s not the whole. And we should make the effort to understand as much of the rest as we can possibly manage. This is not a threatening position: it is an enriching one. If we can do it, we will be richer, we will be better. This is what education should aim to do: to draw out from us what is there so that it can interact with what’s outside.” –Chinua Achebe
Interests and Hobbies
Literature, writing, trails and waters, small farming, and music.
Brief Biography
Over the years, I’ve worked at public and private schools at the primary, secondary, and university level around the country, in a variety of teaching and administrative roles. Along the way I pursued a master’s degree at Bread Loaf, with time at Lincoln College, Oxford, and a doctorate at Louisville. I’ve undertaken further, post-doctoral study at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Nonprofit Management and the Klingenstein Center.
I have always enjoyed writing, at times working as a journalist for newspapers and magazines, such as Paddler and Canoe and Kayak. My passion extends to creative writing as well, especially poetry and fiction.
I’ve served on the Council of Independent Schools for three Vermont Secretaries of Education, as Vice President of the board of the Vermont Independent Schools Association, and as chair of NEASC accreditation visiting teams.