Without a doubt, one of Tamara Schurdak’s happy places is a middle school.

“I’ve always loved middle school,” she said. “If I am having a challenging day, or one where I need to ground myself, the place I go is a classroom.”

The daughter of what she calls “an educator of educators,” Tamara’s interest in teaching was sparked early in life, thanks to her father’s hybrid career: instructor of Connecticut public school teachers who was also involved in the emerging technology industry of the mid-20th century.

“My father worked in tech in the 1950s, so I grew up in a household where we were constantly talking about technology,” Tamara explained. “His 1957 dissertation was on the role of technology in teaching and how it could never replace human connection.”

This view of the indispensable role of relationships in education has greatly shaped Tamara’s path, ultimately leading her to a career in independent schools.

“I started in independent schools because of the community component,” she said. “These schools understand how important belonging is to excelling, and they really try to marry those areas in intentional ways.”

It’s an approach Rowland Hall does well, Tamara continued, and a key reason she was willing to relocate from the East Coast to lead our Middle School team.

When Tamara interviewed at Rowland Hall this spring, it wasn’t her first time at the school. Earlier in her career, as a college admissions officer overseeing the state of Utah, she dropped by the Lincoln Street Campus and was so struck by the school and community she told friends, “If I ever live in Utah, I want to work at Rowland Hall.”

“As an experienced educator, I knew what kind of community I was looking for,” said Tamara, who began to get a sense of Rowland Hall’s emphasis on relationships when she explored our website during the application process. Then, when she visited campus (fun fact: it wasn’t her first visit; see sidebar) and met students, faculty, staff, and families, she saw firsthand how deeply a sense of belonging is woven into the school.

“There is an authenticity here and humility that you want to keep learning,” Tamara said. “It really felt right.”

Since joining Rowland Hall as head of Middle School on July 1, Tamara has wasted no time preparing for her first year, seamlessly taking over ongoing division projects, meeting with colleagues, and reading everything she can get her hands on. As she learns and plans, Tamara is keeping her commitment to relationships at the forefront, focusing on creating opportunities that strengthen middle schoolers’ sense of belonging during this stage of growth and change.

“There’s more cognitive, physical and emotional growth in these three years than at any time, other than infancy,” she said. “This is a really distinct time and it needs to be honored.”

Tamara brings decades of experience in education to her work with middle schoolers. Her background includes roles as a history teacher and college admissions officer, as well as leadership positions in school administration, including overseeing the middle schools at The Pingry School (NJ), the Bullis School (MD), and The Town School (NY). And while Tamara didn’t start teaching with a goal to be a school administrator, she’s found herself drawn to those roles because they allow her to get to know all students in a division and think about their long-term experience.

“I love to see an arc of a student’s trajectory, from early childhood to middle school to high school to college, and think about who they’re going to become and how we can build their self-confidence and awareness,” Tamara said. “If students leave school with that, they can go anywhere they want.”

Tamara’s belief in student trajectory and connection is a top reason she’s excited for all divisions to reunite on one campus this year. “It is such an opportunity,” she said.

For Tamara, that commitment to understanding the full student experience means taking steps to see school through their eyes. One practice she finds especially helpful is becoming a student for a day. From opening bell to dismissal, she follows a student’s schedule, attending classes, completing assignments, eating lunch, and moving between periods. What she learns is priceless, helping her and her team make better, more student-centered decisions. She plans to spend one day each in grades 5–9 this fall to better understand Rowland Hall’s Middle School years and the transitions into and out of the division.

While understanding students is central to Tamara’s approach, she also knows no one supports adolescents alone. Partnerships are a defining part of her leadership style, and as a division leader she sees teachers as some of her most important partners in supporting students.

“Faculty create experiences that spark learning and have immediate impact,” she said. “Sometimes that’s a student’s way in, if they find a passion or see a subject in a way they never thought about before.”

Tamara plans to meet individually with every member of the Middle School faculty during the first months of school to better understand how she can support their work. She’s also prioritizing getting to know students’ families, believing one of the most valuable things her team can offer them is the perspective gained from helping adolescents grow year after year. Altogether, these partnerships shape a student’s trajectory in meaningful and lasting ways. Tamara knows because she’s experienced it herself. One especially significant example came during her first year of college, when she tried out for her university’s rowing team. She was diagnosed with mono just weeks before the roster was finalized and assumed she wouldn’t make the cut. Then something unexpected happened.

“The team was supposed to be the top 40 women,” she remembered. “My coach decided to take a chance and argued to take 41 people. I was number 41.”

That decision became one of the defining moments of her student experience, not only getting her involved with a new sport (she rowed throughout college and after graduation), but also showing her the lasting impact adults can have when they’re willing to see potential in a student before the student sees it in themselves.

“I carry those stories and think about how we can meaningfully partner to find those moments when you can take a 41st person,” she said.