Mark Fish was born in Dutchess, New York, but has made his way around the world working for many types of schools including boarding and day, small and large, and Montessori and faith-based schools. He has traveled through the Middle East, Europe, and Africa educating children.
Now, he has returned to New York as headmaster of Kew Forest School, the oldest independent school in Queens.
“One of the things I’ve done throughout my career is to make schools go from good to great,” he said. “I help schools to understand where they are and where they could go and I love it.”
For the past 18 years, Fish was headmaster of Montessori School of Raleigh, worked in Franciscan School and was a consultant to American schools in Tangier and Marrakech in Morocco.
While the headmaster of Montessori School, he helped double the size of the school. In the Franciscan School, as a board member and then headmaster, he was able to turn around the school’s problem of sliding enrollment.
At Kew Forest, Fish plans to maintain the school’s reputed high standards by preserving its strong qualities like its attention to the core subjects of math, science, English, Latin, and history. He also wants to retain and attract teachers that can help guide the “bright and highly motivated” students of the school.
“The combination of motivated students with good teachers and supportive parents is hard to beat,” he said.
Additionally, Fish wants to make sure that the school is “responsive to the needs of the students and the community.”
Recognizing the importance of early childhood development, he is initiating a Pre-K program this fall.
Moreover, he is starting an English as a Second Language (ESL) program in response to the diversity of the community. However, Fish said the school insists that its students retain their first language because students’ roots are going to be an “asset in tomorrow’s world.”
Fish also wants to develop a partnership with Westside tennis club, after realizing that the school is “half a mile away from the home of American tennis.” This way, aspiring student athletes can develop their skills locally rather than moving to places like Florida or California.
As much as he is looking to adapt the school to the changing environment, he also wants to “make sure the school is here not only for these children but the children of these children.” He is looking to fundraise by contacting alumni and make certain the school has “a beautiful facility and a state of the art curriculum.”
“We’re a not-for-profit but we have to run our business affairs in a professional and fiscally responsible way. Because, if we can’t do that then we can’t offer the services we want to,” he said.
As a Harvard graduate, Fish worked with other people who have been in the educational field for some time. Together, they closely examined case studies and each other’s experiences. He said attending Poughkeepsie Day School and Phillips Exeter Academy helped shape his education philosophy. The schools helped instill in him the values of “small classes, motivated students, and caring dedicated capable teachers”.
Fish’s headmaster at Phillips Exeter Academy, Bill Saltonstall, was asked by President Kennedy to be the Peace Corp director in Africa. Saltonstall inspired Fish to join the Peace Corp and the Corp exemplified for him the important effect teachers can have on a student’s life.
Fish said he is excited to be headmaster of Kew Forest School and noted that when he visited the school for the first time, he “felt really at home.”
