First Person Stories

Find out why students and faculty call Chatham Hall “home.”
Is it our small size? Our colorful traditions? The simple fact that everyone says “Hi” to everyone else? Whatever the reason (or reasons), Chatham Hall people are proud to call this campus “home.” Read our first-person stories, and you’ll see why.

• Mary Lee Black
• Kyle Kahuda
• Bell '12
• Dasia '14

Mary Lee Black
Foreign Language Department Head
It may seem funny but I have always felt a connection with Chatham Hall because I grew up in town and many of my family members have had long associations with the school.

I came to Chatham Hall as a teacher in 1980. I enjoy the daily life at Chatham Hall and feel that a boarding school atmosphere provides the best way for students, faculty members, and their families to interact together. Although my teaching has been very much the same wherever I have taught, I definitely feel that I know my students here on a deeper level. I am closer to my students because I know what is happening in their daily lives... who is in the play, who has been sick, who did too many activities on the weekend, who is concerned about college apps, etc. I think that we are closer as faculty members as well for the same reasons.

The beauty and isolation of the campus fosters this closeness. I have never thought of our location as a disadvantage as we are easily able to access nearby cities and universities. Instead, I think our location provides a peaceful atmosphere in which to learn, to play, and to concentrate on the more important aspects of maturing professionally, academically, and socially.

Kyle Kahuda
Dean of Students
We talk frequently about the growth that our students experience during their time at Chatham Hall. That development is tangible from year to year and even from week to week as new skills are learned, stronger relationships are built, and more difficult challenges are overcome. What isn't mentioned as frequently is that Chatham Hall is just as great a place to be an adult! In many ways, I've grown up here too. This community is where I started my career, learned what it means to be a professional, and had countless opportunities to build my own skills and talents. Chatham Hall is where my wife and I have started our own family, and simultaneously enjoyed the care and affection of an extended family numbering in the hundreds.

During the first days of my first school year as Dean of Students, I wound up driving a student to the Emergency Room in the middle of the night while on a training retreat with the Student Council and a colleague. In the midst of attending to the student at the hospital, my wife called with the news that she had gone into labor with our second child. Throughout the experience, I can't imagine experiencing more help and support than we did from our Chatham Hall family: The student, who (in the midst of considerable pain and discomfort) ordered me to leave her at the hospital so I could begin a three hour drive through the night to another hospital in another state. My friend and colleague who drove my wife to that hospital and the others who cared for our daughter in our absence. The students and advisees that called and texted their well-wishes throughout. The fellow administrators who stepped up and cared for the girl I had so agonizingly left behind in the ER, and ferried the others back to school. The many who covered for me during the extraordinarily busy days of the opening of school and picked up any slack during the weeks that followed. Thanks to their genuine concern and intense desire to help, all of the stress and worry that could have surrounded that time was swept away, leaving behind only the beauty of what will forever be one of the most special experiences for my family. That is what Chatham Hall means to me.

 
Bell '12
Student
When I first came to Chatham Hall I didn't really have something to identify myself with. Chatham Hall gave me many opportunities to branch out and try new things. I would have never been part of the field hockey team, the school newspaper, or the rock band. Chatham Hall has given me the chance to find myself, and I am forever grateful for that.

Dasia '14
Student
I chose Chatham because I felt it would make me a better student, friend, and leader. I also remember the feeling of serenity the first time I walked on campus, something I've felt every work-filled day since. Ultimately, I picked Chatham Hall because I am at home here, and I know this is where I want to be.

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