Hans Doerr will be joining the Darlington Community as U.S. History and Global Issues teacher, and will also serve as assistant crew coach. He comes to the school having recently taught history for five years at Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., where he coached varsity boys’ crew.
He is a graduate of The Hill School, a coeducational boarding school in Pottstown, Pa.
Doerr found himself particularly attracted to the philosophy and culture at Darlington and its own positioning in the independent school realm.
“Darlington is very confident and self-assured in what it is and does for young men and women—it doesn’t worry with what other schools are doing in an attempt to reinvent itself and try to be something different,” he said.
Born and raised in Central Pennsylvania, Doerr went on to receive his B.A. in History with a concentration in American Higher Education from the University of Virginia, where he was a four-year member of the rowing team.
His experience in the classroom began over 13 years ago working for Teach for America as an elementary teacher for Detroit Public Schools. There, he taught literacy, reading comprehension, social studies and science. (One year, he helped students bring their scores up 150% in math and 200% in reading!)
“Being present in different student populations allows you to recognize that kids really are kids—but also that kids are individuals,” said Doerr, who has lived and worked in six different states. “It serves as a constant reminder that there is a broader world. I try to challenge kids to recognize that there is more to the world than one’s high school experience, and that they must find their place in it.”
While at Blair, Doerr was chosen by students and faculty as a recipient of the James M. Howard Fellowship for inspirational leadership in the classroom and community, and outstanding involvement in the life of the school.
A strong proponent of differentiated instruction, he designed a curriculum for his tenth-grade students at Blair that culminated in an exam prepared individually for each student.
“I think that independent schools are in a very unique position where they can do their own thing—but to navigate independence you have to combine it with best practices,” said Doerr.
Also at Blair, the educator established the Blair Ideas Forum in which students exercised and developed speaking and interviewing skills, while also fostering community discussion.
“I am a big believer in helping kids figure out that they can think for themselves,” said Doerr. “Asking good questions is the most fundamental part of thinking for yourself.”
The teacher is a certified USRowing Level 3 coach. Before moving to New Jersey, he also coached rowing at the Detroit Boat Club and the Everett (Wash.) Rowing Association.
Over the course of three summers, he took rising sophomore students in a YMCA program abroad to participate in service learning and leadership trips to Armenia, New Zealand and Peru.
Doerr enjoys reading, staying abreast of current events, attending lectures, trail racing and running, spending time with family and driving around in his 1965 International Scout.
He is married to Tiffany Doerr, who will serve as a personal counselor at Darlington. The couple will live on campus in the McCain House with their dogs, Rez and Riley.
