Head of Middle School Darcy Albanese, who has worked for six full years at MacDuffie, has decided to leave MacDuffie after this year. She let the school know of her intent in January.

MacDuffie has left Albanese with many memories she is fond of. She especially remembers the “unexpected moments, the silly moments” from years past.

“I remember Emmi [Nunes] and Sophie [Stetson] coming to class dressed up as puppy dogs for Halloween… Gabe Shumway doing the Amoeba dance in my class… sometimes we’ll be talking about a topic and I’ll blast a song related to it,” she said.

Albanese has also enjoyed watching the current upper school students who were in Middle School when she first arrived grow from that time until now.

An additional “warm spot” Albanese will leave MacDuffie with are its traditions such as Candlelight and Song Contest. Their “duration” and “beauty” have made them  be particularly memorable for her.

Albanese expressed her gratitude for the many people she has met in her time here and the opportunity she had for “making special connections” with them, regardless of how long interactions lasted.

“Some of them have been brief and some of them have been onwards for years,” she said.

As much as the treasures found at MacDuffie meant to Albanese, she was at peace with her decision.

“I think it’s really important to know yourself, and to know when it’s time to go. And I knew it was time to leave. I’ve tried to be kind of open about it and not hide the fact that I was leaving,” she said. Albanese added that she wanted her departure to be not necessarily happy, given what she will remember and miss, but certainly “not a bad thing.”

“It’s not a bad thing for the program, it’s not a bad thing for me,” she said.

Albanese explained that while she has no definitive plans for the future aside from possibly tutoring, she has uprooted, or “rebirthed,” several times in the past.

“Every now and then you have to reinvent yourself. I’ve done that a few times and I’m looking forward to that,” she said. Positive past experiences of the same process have led Albanese to look forward with optimism in this next chapter of her life.

“Each [experience] has been great. I don’t regret all the different things I’ve done. The beauty of [reinventing yourself] is that you take all your life experiences to a new place, so it’s kind of fun,” she said.

Albanese wanted the students that she has had to remember a few things for the future after she has left:

“Being corny, the idea of believing in yourself.”

“People should make each other feel good not put each other down. There’s plenty of people to do that in the world. This idea of supporting each other is really important and I feel like sometimes that slips away from us here; I’d like to see more of that back.”

“Try things, try new things. Have the faith in yourself that you can try new things.”

Albanese ended with the following sentiment that she hopes her students take away specifically about her.

“You know, there’s been sort of a joke in the 7th grade about who my favorites are, and I really, truly—7th grade—I have no favorites. I don’t have a favorite color, I don’t have a favorite food, I like things for what they are, I always have. And that’s so important for them to know. Every student I’ve had is wonderful in their own way. I mean truly wonderful. And that’s my message.”