"I having terrible separation anxiety about leaving. I'll miss being part of this community,” says Kathleen Kaditz, Downs House dean for the past five years.

As she finished up her final weeks at Arlington High School before retiring, Kaditz took some time to review the events that brought her here, remembering the encouraging and challenging parts of her job, and thinking about her future.

Kaditz's career in education began in June 1969, when she started as a student teacher at a high school in her hometown of Portland, Ore. Her 40 years in public education have included working at a juvenile detention facility, starting an alternative school for teens, and getting a master’s in arts and teaching as well as a master's in counseling.

Then she moved to Massachusetts to teach history and psychology in Lincoln-Sudbury for 24 years. When she and her husband moved back to Oregon, she became vice principal of a high school there. Finally, just before coming to AHS, she moved back to Massachusetts, taught in Wellesley for three years and was department chair of history in Holliston for one year.

Of her time as a teacher, Kaditz said, "I got so that a kid could turn in a paper one term and his friend could turn it in another term, and I would remember." That was while teaching four psychology classes.

Since she moved from being in an administrative position back to working as a teacher, she realized how hard it is to do everything as a teacher that administrators want done. Her experiences as a teacher have helped her in her role as an administrator. "I'm definitely a teacher-oriented administrator," she said,

"I moved to Massachusetts because I wanted to be in a state where education is really valued. After working at Lincoln-Sudbury, I knew I eventually wanted to be a house dean," she said.

In 2004, Charles Skidmore was hired as AHS principal, and that summer he hired Kaditz. "She has been helpful in so many ways, but specifically, she pays extreme attention to detail concerning student issues or problems," Skidmore said. "I've learned so much from her about ADHD and mental health issues. She's also an expert in working outside community resources."

During her five years at AHS, Kaditz has gained a wealth of experience about helping teens. "I've learned it doesn't help kids in difficulty to wave the rules for them. Although there are always exceptions to the rule, it's best to apply rules consistently," she said.

"I love working with students, teachers, and parents while watching kids grow and change over their four years in high school," she said.

"I've actually given the deans more work because I see being a dean as a bigger job. We aren't just the disciplinary arm of the school. We oversee the academic and social well-being and development of all the people in the school."

Next year, Kaditz will continue to be busy. "I'm on the community ethics committee for [a] Harvard teaching hospital. I am also going to be working with an associate professor at Harvard who is working to get screening for depression into all high schools."

"I've loved being a dean,” she said. "I'm sad to leave.":

To the senior class, Kaditz said, "Do not confuse who you are today with whom you will become. Also, when you commit to something and work hard you get more than you give."

Bethany Stobbe, a graduate of Arlington High School, was coeditor of The Ponder Report in her senior year.