RE LOG Fall 2024

FALL 2024 Ransom Everglades LOG 21 When Dr. Donald Cramp interviewed for the job of Head of the Upper School late last year, one might say he had an ace up his sleeve. It wasn’t just that he had worked at Ransom Everglades 10 years before in a variety of roles, including Dean of Students, Interim Science Department Chair and Assistant Head of the Upper School. It wasn’t just that he was beloved – adored, even – by former colleagues, who remembered him fondly for his warm and joyful demeanor on campus. It wasn’t even the fact that he had served as a successful and well-regarded campus head already at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Houston, Texas. In addition to all that, Cramp had a unique qualification: he had done his doctorate on Ransom Everglades. “That, for me, was really important,” said Head of School Rachel Rodriguez. “I just knew that there would be nobody else who knew the school in that way – who had studied it, and had studied the importance of relationships within the community.” To be clear, it wasn’t exactly a doctorate on Ransom Everglades. Cramp’s dissertation, which he defended in 2011, focused specifically on the Adirondack-Florida School and then the Ransom School before the 1974 merger. Nevertheless, he found himself asking questions about the school’s early institutional culture that spoke directly to his daily work as a dean and assistant upper school head. While working toward his doctorate in educational leadership at Florida International University, Cramp found himself captivated by the idea of an “ethic of care,” a concept first developed in the field of nursing. As opposed to other moral frameworks like Utilitarianism and Virtue Ethics, an ethic of care defines moral action in terms of interpersonal relationships and responsiveness to the needs of others. Cramp had never seen the concept applied to an educational context, but he felt its urgency. He wondered: to what extent did an “ethic of care” sustain Ransom in its early days? To what extent is an “ethic of care” essential to a healthy, functioning school? “I was able to share that, if caring attitudes prevail in a school environment, then the likelihood of the school surviving for a long, long time is really high,” Cramp said. In his new role as RE’s Head of the Upper School, promoting an “ethic of care” has become Cramp’s priority once again. But challenges lie ahead, including and especially the challenge of scale. It was one thing for Paul Ransom to make his 12 charges feel seen and cared for at the early Adirondack-Florida School, where, as Cramp pointed out, “everybody knew everybody.” What does it take to model an “ethic of care” at an upper school with a population of over 700 students and so many moving parts? It’s a daunting question. But if there’s one person equipped to tackle it – one person who, according to those who knew him, seems preternaturally capable of conveying care, warmth and genuine respect toward every person he meets – it’s Cramp. The popular teacher and administrator brings his ‘ethic of care’ back to RE Dr. Donald Cramp “If caring attitudes prevail in a school environment, then the likelihood of the school surviving for a long, long time is really high.” – Donald Cramp Donald Cramp teaching an ecology class in 2012 on an island in Biscayne Bay. By Matt Margini Humanities Department Faculty