Sterling Johnston '03

Stephen Murray leads a very busy day in the academic offices, organizing schedules, classes, and recently, spring electives. As dean of academics, he is in charge of one of the most significant aspects of school life. When the demands of the class day end, Mr. Murray returns home to his most important job: being a dad. His four children-Sam, Maggie, James, and Grace-range in age from 2 to 10 years old. The three oldest children, Sam, Maggie, and James, attend The Bement School, and Grace spends her days at Deerfield Day Care.

Living in Johnson and Pocumtuck dormitories during his first years at Deerfield, Mr. Murray said that the students were like big brothers and sisters for his kids. While he enjoyed the experience, he is grateful to be in a house to bring up such a big family. He explained that life in the dorm creates an added pressure as well as interfering with family privacy.

The tasks of a teacher (meal responsibilities, coaching, advising, dorm duty, weekend duty, and, of course, teaching) are demanding, but Mr. Murray says that it is easier to spend more time with his family now, as the academic dean, than he could when he was the dean of students. He thinks that he is able to spend more time with his family here than he would if he were employed elsewhere. Mr. Murray never knew what his father did at work each day; and he feels that his kids have a pretty good understanding of what he does when he isn't at home.

Mr. Murray said with strong conviction that his kids really love Deerfield. They view sit-down meals as a bonding time with their dad and they look forward to some time alone with him when it's their turn to attend dinner. All of his children love watching the dance performances and they enjoy being able to point out their friends who are performing on stage. Sam, Maggie, James, and Grace all have friends in the student body. Mr. Murray said that Sam, 10, loves skate-boarding, and he spends a lot of time with Tyler Moore '02 and Parker Chase '01, who Mr. Murray says are great influences. He also said that he couldn't be happier with the way the Deerfield students treat his kids. Though it may be too far in the future to tell, Mr. Murray says that all of his kids want to come to Deerfield.

Mr. Murray explained that, naturally, he is able to be more understanding when deciding on punishments for his own children's mistakes. He is able to decide in a case-by-case fashion (as a parent should), whereas in the dean of students office, he had to make the necessary school-wide decisions.

Mr. Murray particularly enjoys Deerfield's neighborhood feel with a lot of young families, an aspect of the school that is so hard to find these days. It is an environment in which his kids are surrounded by friends their ages as well as great examples of students and adults, a perfect combination to grow up with. Mr. Murray feels lucky that he lives in such a special place to raise a family.