Category: Retiring Faculty and Staff

From the age of five, when he performed in his family’s backyard variety show to raise money for polio research, Bob has lived to serve.

One of the things that has made Sarah a great administrator for so long, one of the things we love and admire about her is the scope of her attention, which runs all the way from big school policy issues to the tiniest anxious freshmen whimpering in the corner of the dormitory common room and on down, yes, to subject-verb agreement.

Vivian—a self-described history teacher and advocate for equity and inclusion—came to Milton 32 years ago, as she has often said,” to support the Asian students on campus, get Asian Society up and running, and maybe stay for a couple of years.” 

For the past 26 years, Cheryl has been Milton’s assistant to the head of school, loyally serving five different heads. For those who’ve been around for a while, you understand the wide range of personalities she’s supported and the many peaks and valleys she has traveled on this journey! She has been steadfast, loyal, committed and resilient.

Since 2015, Nick Parnell has been the school’s director of Facilities Services. He and his team deal with the things you can’t see—or shouldn’t know about—so that you can do what you do every day.

Since 2011, Lynn O’Sullivan has been the administrator in the Facilities Services department, having served multiple directors of the department, including me.  It has been my fortune to have worked with Lynn for more than 7 years. We have had a lot of fun while getting a lot of work done.

Lynn has been the glue that keeps everything together and makes sure that what needs to get done gets done. And if it doesn’t, you know that you will hear from her.

Lynn, with support from her team, manages the routing of inbound maintenance requests, payment of millions of dollars in bills, vendor contracts, the mailroom, supply purchasing, and any miscellaneous issue that reaches facilities. She answers questions about policies, procedures, and supports team members who have questions about vacation and anything else. She is also responsible for making sure that all members of the facilities teams have a uniform that works for them in every season.

Described by a colleague as a “fantastic human being,” Lynn always tries to find the best path forward in any circumstance.

A member of the Facilities Grounds and Events team for 45 years, Ernie Ostine has been the longest-tenured member of the grounds team, exceeding his closest colleague by nearly a decade. After emigrating from Haiti, Milton Academy was his first and only job in the United States. I’m also quite sure that he also had the longest first day of anyone sitting here. His first day at Milton, February 8, 1978, was a snow storm; after coming to campus that morning, he did not leave for 72 hours. Actually, he walked to campus in the middle of the storm because he thought if he did not show up, he would no longer be employed here.

Ernie has often shared with colleagues that he truly loves Milton Academy and the opportunities it offers to students. He has always seen the value in what the school provides to everyone who touches it, and wanted to be a part of the school’s success. Ernie also appreciates everyone who works here and the role they play in making the student experience possible. He has always made friends far and wide across campus. Ernie particularly loves senior projects season each year, happily anticipating students’ visits to the facilities garage, where they would ask him about how to fabricate or fix something. Ernie also enjoys sharing his knowledge of how to repair cars with multiple faculty and staff members.

During the fall season, as the early morning sun rises over the Quad on any given Saturday, you could always see Kevin Macdonald’s minivan parked in its usual spot on Chapel Hill. It was game day, and if you were looking for Coach Mac, you would not find him in his office or in the film room. You would most likely find him in the basement of the RSG filling up 50 water bottles in preparation for the game.

One might ask, why didn’t he save this task for his managers, or assistant coaches? Why is the head football coach, who has won nine ISL Championships, three New England Championships—including six undefeated seasons—filling up his team’s water bottles on game day? The answer is that this is one of the many rituals, or some might say superstitions, that Kevin would perform every game day. Other superstitions included wearing the same faded tight blue t-shirt every Saturday during a win streak, or when he would not allow Coach Rebuck to ride the team bus to any away games, because the last time he did, the team lost.