Teacher: English III & IV
Coach: JV Soccer

Jamie Perry is a member of the English Department teaching English III and IV. Originally from New York, he graduated from Hamilton College in 1991 before earning a Master’s from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in 2003.

Prior to Avon, Jamie had 25 years of boarding school experience, both at another all-boys school, The Gow School, and an all-girls institution and Avon’s neighbor, Miss Porter’s. While he never necessarily sought out single-sex environments, Jamie has found them enormously rewarding.

In the classroom, Jamie is a Harkness-trained teacher who believes strongly in the "guide on the side" rather than the "sage on the stage" approach to teaching.

“While teaching at Porter’s, I was always impressed with the Avon boys. Their poise and love for the school is obvious. Now that I have a son at Avon, I know for sure that ‘The Brotherhood’ is real and am excited to see it in action in the classroom and on the field.”

In addition to teaching English and living on campus, Jamie is also pursuing his first love of coaching soccer. He began his coaching career immediately after college and has coached both boys and girls from his son's youth and travel teams to the junior varsity team at Elmira College.

“One of my coaching mentors taught me that yelling and screaming from the bench is a waste of time and energy…Practice is going to class and games as the assessment.”

In the summer, Jamie and his family enjoy returning Seneca Lake in central New York where he grew up. He tries to spend as much of his summer there as possible. In his free time, Jamie enjoys competing in sports and games, reading, and, as Kenneth Grahame writes in The Wind in the Willows, "simply messing about in boats."

The Perry family are residents at Avon Old Farms—Jamie and his wife Katy, Avon’s  Sustainability Director, live in ‘The Coop’ with son Jacob’ 21, daughter Devin, and their hound mix Ella.

FUN FACT

• Jamie was a forward on the Hamilton College soccer team for four years

About Dr. Sanford

Living in upstate New York for most of my childhood where dairy farms populate the countryside, I spent summer days baling hay and tending to cows just for the fun of it. I graduated from Gloversville High School, and went south to college on a baseball scholarship. Since the curve ball was my nemesis, I had more success as a walk-on for Old Dominion University’s soccer team. With a biology degree, I thought to be a veterinarian, but found biological research more exciting, and I have been doing it ever since, first in the laboratory, and now in modified form in the classroom. 

I love climbing mountains and exploring nature in exotic places: walking up Cotopaxi in Ecuador and fishing in the Amazon River are tough to top.

What experience led you to Avon Old Farms School?

My experience in the field of biological research and the combined 22 years of teaching at The Derryfield School, a prestigious private day school in New Hampshire, and at TASIS England, one of the top American International boarding schools in the UK, have given me the tools and the experience needed for successful science education where ever I may be, but especially here at Avon. I have led several student trips incorporating science and community service to places like Ecuador and Peru, and also through Habitat for Humanity to North Carolina and West Virginia. I am hopeful to do these types of trips with Avon boys.

Why do you teach at Avon Old Farms School?