Emily H. Jones

Remembering Emily

Emily Jones, Putney’s former head of school, died on October 28, 2026, at her home with her daughter, Alice, at her side. She was 69 years old.

Emily served as Putney’s head of school for 15 years, from 2007 to 2022. Under her leadership, Putney deepened its reputation as a national leader in progressive education.

Emily came to Putney following eight years as Upper School Head at Catlin Gabel School in Portland, Oregon. Emily’s student-centered approach to education and her belief in experiential learning immediately endeared her to the Putney School community.

Emily and Gordon both found a home at Putney, where Gordon taught English and art, played piano, and mentored countless students, where their black Labrador retrievers snuck food scraps and befriended an entire campus, where students walked through their Rockwell House backyard en route to the orchard, stopping to chat with Gordon if he happened to be outside painting. Students with nowhere to land during school breaks slept at their home. New Year’s Eve celebrations at Rockwell House welcomed faculty and staff each December. To Emily and Gordon, The Putney School was family.

Fiercely intelligent, instinctively funny, and a ravenous reader, Emily was also forever a teacher, and The Putney School was in many ways her classroom. During morning assemblies, Emily frequently spoke about current events, and she relished student engagement in issues happening off campus at the town, state, national, and global level. Emily deepened our understanding of ourselves as learners and teachers, as humans. She will continue to teach us.

In the years after Emily’s retirement, her community of friends was a steady, essential presence. And while her health failed her, her fortitude and wisdom held fast until the end.

Donations in Emily’s honor and memory may be made to
the Emily Jones Fund for Student Support.

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