Senior class dean and health teacher Shelly Kaye will be taking her leave from The Masters School after nine years as a member of the community. She has had many roles, from English teacher to dorm parent to faculty advisor of SCEEM. What she’ll miss the most about our School is the students. 

“What I enjoy most about what I do is the time I spend with students –educating, helping them to grow, being a support system to them, “ Kaye said. “Masters students are the most wonderful group of students I’ve met in my career, and I’ve really loved them. I’m gonna miss them so much. Particularly because I teach ninth grade seminar, I’ve had almost every student in the School in a classroom now at some point. All of the grades. So I have connections with a lot of students,” she added. 

Her love for the students is mutual. One of Kaye’s advisees, Daniel Medina recalled a time in which Kaye acted as a second mom to him. “In sophomore year, unexpectedly I found out I wasn’t able to come back for my junior year,” he said, “and Ms. Kaye, she was with me throughout the whole process. She was there for me when I was mad and confused about why I couldn’t come back. She always helped me: she would make jokes when times were bad, she would be serious when we needed to be serious.”

In a similar vein, Head of Upper School Peter Newcomb noted Kaye’s sense of humor. “I think working in the deans’ office can be really challenging,” he said, “and she did a great job with the team, trying to keep everybody’s spirits up, finding ways to make people laugh, make people smile, throughout the year.”

Kaye will be going to Portledge School in Locust Valley, Long Island, where she will be an upper school dean. “I found a wonderful opportunity where I can bring everything I have to offer to this new role,” she said. “It’s a great school, very much like Masters, and this is a wonderful opportunity for me and my family.”