Cheshire Academy

Mr. Douglas G. Rogers joined Cheshire Academy as our head of school on July 1, 2009. For the past three decades, Doug, Cowles Professor in the Humanities, served as a teacher and administrator at Phillips Exeter Academy. A career that spans more than thirty years touches upon every aspect of independent school life. Doug has taught thousands of English classes, graded mountainous stacks of essays, directed four main stage shows, served as a dorm head, and coached basketball and tennis. In 1989, as an NEH Teacher-Scholar, he studied American Literature: Works by Women, Blacks, and Native Americans. That year of independent reading led to a substantive expansion and revision of the English department’s list of classroom texts, ensuring that students would read a richer variety of voices and genres. In the early nineties, he chaired the Composition of the School Committee, which created a long-range plan for admissions and hiring. Under this plan, Exeter has increased its day student population and diversified its admissions in becoming a more culturally diverse student and faculty community. In the years since earning his doctorate in Modern American Literature from the University of Chicago, Doug has published scholarly books and articles. At Exeter, he served as lead editor in publishing volumes one and two of A Book of Meditations. Meditations, delivered in weekly assemblies, may well represent the best of what Exeter seeks to nurture within its community: clear, cogent expression, respect for others, and an appreciation for the complex interrelatedness of humankind. In a letter to the board of trustees, Doug talked about his sense of the Cheshire community: As I envision [this] community, I think of home, of family, of lifelong friendships, of values rooted in hard work, responsibility, and self-discipline. I think of kindness, civility, and generosity of spirit....