Kirk Smothers ’91: Leadership in learning differently

Kirk Smothers ’91 is head of school at Delaware Valley Friends School, where all the students have learning challenges. Since Smothers took over in 2015, enrollment has grown 55% to more than 200 students in grades 1–12. Located in the Philadelphia suburbs, DVFriends was founded in 1987 as the first Quaker high school dedicated to students who learn differently.

“The kids don’t like the word disability, so we don’t use it,” Smothers said.

Very few schools in the country specifically teach children who learn differently, and five are Quaker, he said. Some students at DVFriends have learning difficulties in reading, writing, or math. Some have ADHD or other disorders. But they are all intelligent and capable. They are taught in small classes by specially trained teachers, and 98% go on to college. Less than 5% are Quakers.

Smothers himself has followed a path of learning differently. He attended Cornell, studying One Course At A Time. He received a master’s degree from St. John’s College in Santa Fe and Annapolis, famed for its liberal arts Great Books Program. He received a master’s degree in education from Columbia University in the only program at the time that focused on private school leadership.

Entering Cornell, he says he was “a risky admit” with a C+ GPA, though he had good ACT scores and was active on the debate team.

“Looking back, I was probably a kid with undiagnosed executive function deficits,” Smothers said. “Being a student didn’t click for me until I got to Cornell. Focusing on one thing at a time was such a gift. I remember the terrific economics courses taught by A’amer Farooqi. He was brilliant and engaging, yet he knew exactly who I was.”

After graduating from St. John’s, Smothers worked for the college in admissions, moving from there to guidance counseling and then teaching and leadership roles at progressive schools in Maryland and New York City. Eventually he established a high school at a Quaker school in Brooklyn for students with learning challenges. This led to his present position.

“A career in independent schools was never by design,” he said. “As Quakers say, ‘a way opens.’ The profession chose me.”

Smothers started exploring Quakerism in the late ’90s, drawn by the religion’s spirituality, lack of dogma, and dedication to social justice. His wife, Sarah Clarke, is director of the Quaker United Nations Office in New York, which represents the Society’s concerns for peace and justice at the UN. They have a teenager, Casey.

“I’ve been fortunate to work in environments that are dedicated to finding better ways to serve kids who otherwise fall through the cracks,” Smothers said. “They are smart, capable kids for whom traditional education just doesn’t work. In most schools they feel they aren’t smart. They’re ostracized. But in schools like ours, they feel respected, trusted, supported. They feel loved. They come to believe in themselves and others—and hopefully make a better world for all of us.” 

Dan Kellams ’58 is a former member of the Cornell College Alumni Association Board of Directors. His career spanned nearly 50 years in public relations in New York City, where he worked as a corporate and agency executive and, later, as a freelance writer and editor. He has written two books set in his hometown of Marion, Iowa.