MY TURN
Education Across the
Generations 30 Washington FAMILY AUGUST 2022
a child thinking how different they were, yet
now I realize we are actually incredibly sim-
ilar. All of us are curious, motivated, love to
learn and excited to share that knowledge
with some awesome children. We genuinely
enjoy coming to school every day because we
don’t see teaching as work; instead it is a pas-
sion and a purpose we were meant to pursue.

Growing up, I remember spending count-
less hours at the school, watching how both
my grandmother and my father (now Head
of School) worked together in tandem. I
would marvel at how easily they seemed to
deal with each and every situation and how
much they loved doing what they did. And
I began to understand what a special place
it was, although truth be told, I’m not sure
anyone truly appreciates how great an expe-
rience it is until they have some perspective
with which to view it.

I walk down the hallways and it is quite
a bizarre feeling for me. Everything’s the
same and yet so different. The kids
are still just kids—laughing, smil-
ing and sharing stories. They still
settle things with the tried-and-
true rock, paper, scissors method.

The students walk quickly to their
Algebra 2, Trig or computer classes,
although those programs are far dif-
ferent today than they were in my
day. Rather than “just” coding, stu-
dents are now programming robots
and doing 3D printing. Their lessons
and experiments in math and sci-
ence classes are way beyond what I
remember doing. As much as things
are different from my time here, the
core experience has not changed.

Nysmith is still very much about
nurturing yet challenging children to
reach their potential in a nonstress-
ful environment. It’s instilling a love
of learning, keeping them thinking
and making each class as engaging
and fun as possible. That philosophy
hasn’t changed—and it never will.

Carole’s mission and values were
at the core of my childhood—and the foun-
dation for the school for all these years.

They have led us to constantly adjust how
we teach to meet the needs of our students.

As with the unprecedented times that we
live in, life changes, and so do our students.

In my few years as a teacher here at Nysmith,
I have not found one graduating class to be
identical to the other. Each has its own per-
sonality and disparate interests. Education
and the methods of teaching must adapt
to the students who now sit in the chairs
in front of me and my fellow teachers. And
I’m happy—and proud—to say that is some-
thing at which Nysmith excels. n
Alex Nysmith is the grandson of Carole
Nysmith, founder of The Nysmith School in
Herndon, Virginia. Learn more by visiting
nysmith.com. NYSMITH SCHOOL
M any kids have fond
memories of their
grandmother coming
to visit, baking
cakes for birthdays or babysitting
when their parents went away. I
certainly have my share of these
recollections, but I recall from an
early age that my grandmother
was also an incredibly creative
and curious person. She taught me
many things but, most importantly,
she inspired me to follow my
passions, which have led me right
back to where it all began at The
Nysmith School.

Carole or Grandmother—she was
not one for nicknames—had taught
for years in Fairfax County’s Gifted
and Talented program. She loved
working with children but recog-
nized how academically advanced
students would become bored with
the static nature of the curriculum.

She took a risk in 1984 and opened
Nysmith School for students in kin-
dergarten through second grade.

Much like a teacher’s prepared lessons
don’t always go as planned, Carole’s vision
for the school didn’t materialize without its
share of surprises. I remember over lunch
one day when she told me the story of how
the Upper School (fourth through eighth
grades) was created; both of us ended up
laughing at the audacity of it. The sec-
ond-grade children loved the program and
being with Carole and the others so much
that their parents essentially “refused” to
leave the school and forced her to open a
third grade. It didn’t stop at third grade;
before long, she added a fourth grade, then
fifth, and before you knew it, Nysmith was a
K-8 school. It was the quintessential supply
and demand—in reverse order.

It is surreal being back at the school where
it all began for me. Many of the teachers
with whom I spent many hours of my child-
hood learning from and being inspired by are
now my teaching colleagues. I remember as
BY ALEX NYSMITH



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