Small School, Big Impact: A Life-Changing ExperienceKate (Dykstra) Middleton ’05

As dramatic as it sounds, I can honestly say McLean School saved my life,” says Kate (Dykstra) Middleton ’05, who started at the school in Grade 10. “Middle school and high school years are such hard, emotional, self-growth times. A lot of my friends at public school were getting into some scary things. I saw that happening and knew I needed to make a change.”

McLean’s focus on students who learn differently didn’t matter to Kate, who doesn’t have any diagnosed learning disabilities, because the school’s best practices serve all kids well, she notes. “I fell in love with the size of it, and the way the kind and caring teachers interact with their students. They really know them personally, and I wanted that for myself, too,” says Kate.

Those three years at McLean were even better than she could have imagined: “I have almost no negative memories–most people can’t say that about high school!” Kate adds. With only a handful of girls in her small graduating class, the group grew very close. “We did everything together, and the truth is that in any other school we wouldn’t necessarily be friends because we were all so different,” says Kate.

“At a bigger school, you often get pigeonholed into a specific group or clique, but at McLean you are free to explore all your interests,” she says. For Kate, that included sports like hockey and lacrosse–and, she laughs, one basketball game’s worth of cheerleading. “I was horrible at sports, but they still let me try!” she says. “There’s a lot to be said for just being able to be part of a team, and I never would have had that experience at a bigger public school, with their tryouts and cuts and intense competition.”

Seeking the same small, supportive atmosphere and intimacy that drew her to McLean, Kate enrolled at Susquehanna University after graduation. After three semesters, however, she decided she was ready for a bigger environment and transferred to University of Maryland, College Park, where she received a degree in Studio Art.

A series of work experiences followed, including one with TV show “America’s Most Wanted,” but after a job posting at “a small private school in Potomac” caught her eye, she returned to McLean in 2010 to work in the Learning Commons Library. “It was wonderful being back in that environment again,” says Kate, who, in addition to her position as Assistant Librarian, also helped oversee the Yearbook and third grade technology.

When she and husband Scott married in 2012, the wedding was a fun mix of old and new McLean, with former classmates and current colleagues alike. Soon after, the Middletons began talking about where they wanted to put down roots and start a family. “We knew we wanted to live near the ocean in a community that could support his work as a personal trainer and my desire to start an interior design business,” she says. A visit to Hilton Head sealed the deal, and in 2013, the two moved to Bluffton, SC; daughter Allie, 7, was born the next year, and Juliette, 3, followed.

Today, she’s back working with students, this time as a third-grade classroom teacher, having returned to school for a degree in Elementary Education. “Working in a public system has been very eye-opening,” says Kate, who looks to bring her love of teaching to a smaller, independent school setting like the one that changed her life all those years ago. “I’m reminded of how I felt as that young high school student and what I want out of education, for myself and also now for my students,” she says.

“My years at McLean were truly some of the best of my life,” adds Kate. “It’s such a formative time, and I got to go through it in such a safe, comforting, all-inclusive environment.

“I hope the same for my own girls someday,” she says.