Adrian Pruett’s math class has transformed almost every day. It has been a stage for the class to sing about radicals; it has been a stadium for classes to relax with a game of Silent Ball after they finished their homework; and it has been an art studio, where students used different colored highlighters to learn how to find inequalities on graphs. Most of all, it has been a site for laughter and smiles.

“I came here wanting a space where I could be really happy in the work that I do,” Pruett said. “I found that.”

Pruett has been teaching seventh grade math for five years at St. John’s and has taught math for fifteen years in total. Next year, she will be the Math Coordinator at the Annunciation Orthodox School. Though she will miss many aspects of St. John’s, she will miss the “community of excellence” surrounding her the most.

“What students are capable of doing at this school really blew me away and continues to astonish me every year,” she said. “How hard teachers work to make that possible, how thoughtful teachers are and how many ways they’re willing to take risks with their expertise is really incredible.”

Four years ago, Pruett made a website filled with slides, videos and extra practice so that it would be easier for parents and tutors to support students with math material. Daily, in her classroom, Pruett serves as a support system for kids on both their happiest and most disappointing days.

“I’ve worked hard for this to be a safe space for kids to cry, learn, and grow through all of the things that we care about, through all of the pressure that comes with being here and through all of the challenges that are put in front of us,” Pruett said.

This year, she also serves as a Community and Inclusion Faculty Associate, working with Spanish teacher Susan Scotty and English teacher Jason Kirkwood to ensure that there is a “knowledgeable and constantly thriving community” in the Middle School. They hosted an optional faculty book club to read Say the Right Thing, which is about how to initiate and navigate difficult conversations.

“I think that this book group and that opportunity has left the middle school a slightly better place,” Pruett said. “That’s what we all seek to do — add our two cents and make this place a little better.”

Pruett enjoys helping others navigate conflict. St. John’s has one Social Emotional Learning period set aside every seven days for Middle School. Students discuss topics ranging from conflict resolution to how to set healthy boundaries. Pruett wrote SEL lessons and collaborated with Counseling and Wellness Coordinator Cynthia Powell and Middle School Counselor Erin Shelton to help students learn about maintaining healthy relationships.

“I see conflict as a chance to show someone that they’re worth investing in. If people engage in conflict, if they’re willing to engage at all, it means they care,” Pruett said. “And I really love helping people who care to see each other.”

Sophomore Maddie Stelmak remembers that Pruett listened patiently and offered advice when Stelmak was having a conflict with her friend. Besides helping her emotionally, Pruett also engaged Stelmak intellectually.

“She brought such great energy to math,” Stelmak said. “Math was my favorite class that year solely because she was the teacher.”

Seventh grader Ella Shaw both has Pruett as an advisor and as a math teacher. In advisory, Pruett makes sure every students’ voices were heard. Shaw says Pruett treats her advisory like a family.

“She’s encouraged people to become more connected in our middle school community and in our grade level,” Shaw said. “She has this vibe that makes everyone feel so much more at ease and less stressed out. She helps everyone just relax and learn while also having fun and connecting with your peers.”

Pruett considers it an “honor” to see her students grow from seventh grade to Upper School.

“Watching them show bits of their personality in ways that maybe they weren’t confident about in seventh grade, and then watching them be so boisterously themselves in Upper School, is really beautiful,” she said. “Of all the things we learn in school and maybe in life, the most important is learning how to happily and proudly be yourself. Watching kids do that over time has brought me so much pride.”

At AOS, instead of seeing high school students, Pruett will interact with younger students. She will act as a thought partner for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade teachers, leading them as they plan lessons. While she loves working with middle school, she is excited to immerse herself in early childhood math education, which she considers especially formative for students.

“If you learn math well on a foundational level, you can love it for the rest of your life. 
If you don’t learn it well on a foundational level, you struggle and you hate it for so long,” Pruett said. “Middle school has been a really great chance to shift kids’ mindsets, but to be honest, the biggest shifts need to happen really early on. So I’m happy that my work can now support classrooms where kids are learning to count.” 

As Math Coordinator, Pruett will not have her own classroom, nor will she have a set group of students to teach. 

“I’m at a point where my impact is somewhat limited to my classroom, and now I want to impact more classrooms than just my own,” Pruett said.
”But that comes at the cost of being in my own classroom. I’m sad about that. I’ve loved learning and laughing with kids, and it’ll be an adjustment next year.”

Whenever Stelmak serendipitously crosses paths with Pruett after seventh grade, Pruett always smiles and greets her warmly.

“It’s sad that she’s leaving because she was just such a force of positivity in the Middle School,” Stelmak said.

Shaw will miss Pruett greatly.

“I really don’t want her to leave,” Shaw said. “But I’m also happy for her that she’s trying something new, and it’s something she’s really looking forward to.”