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Douglas Hamilton
Incoming head of school, Lawrence School
Douglas Hamilton will become the new head of Lawrence School this summer, replacing Lou Salza, who has been in the job for 11 years. Hamilton has worked for 28 years, including the past 18 years as director of admissions, for the private school, which is known for specializing in working with students with language-based learning differences and attending difficulties, which most commonly manifest as dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Lawrence has about 250 students on its upper-school campus (grades 7 to 12) in Sagamore Hills and another 100 at its lower-school campus (grades K to 6) in Broadview Heights. Hamilton recently talked with Crain's about how Lawrence School uses evidence-based learning practices to help its students succeed and how he plans to approach his new role.
What is Lawrence's approach to helping its unique student population learn and excel?
It really is about getting students into the right environment with people who understand how they learn. I often offer the analogy that schools are much like a five-gallon aquarium. You can use a five-gallon aquarium as a terrarium, you can use it to house hermit crabs, you can use it for goldfish. For each of those environments, some of the living things you put in there are going to thrive while others are going to struggle. What we have done at Lawrence is put an environment together that allows students who learn differently to thrive and succeed.
Can you give me a few specifics of what you do differently than traditional schools?
It starts with the staff. We consider each one of them to be educational specialists. Even if you are a content teacher who specializes in science, for example, you are given professional development that helps you understand issues such as how a student with dyslexia processes the language of science and how a...