Alumni

Dear Members of the Derby Academy Community,

I am writing to share disturbing news and also our commitment and determination to address it. We have recently received a report that a past science teacher and coach, Robert Stephen Phillips, who was employed at Derby from September of 1969 until June of 1973, engaged in sexual misconduct with students at Derby. We have also learned that another school recently received allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr. Phillips during his tenure as a teacher there in the late 1960s which that school investigated, corroborated and reported to its community.  

Though this information takes us back approximately 50 years, Derby’s trustees and administrators are no less concerned and saddened by it. Our highest priority is to the care and safety of our students. Since 1784, the commitment of Derby’s faculty to both the education and the well-being of our students has been the hallmark of our school. The notion that a member of our faculty took advantage of his position as a trusted educator to prey upon the vulnerability of children in the school’s care is deeply disturbing.

Because our commitment to student safety and well-being has always been paramount, Derby feels a duty to its past and current community to not just relay this information to you, but to make ourselves accessible to anyone who has information they would like to report and would benefit from our support and assistance. To ensure that we are as helpful as possible, we have created a committee to focus on the school’s response overall and specifically to individuals who may want to reach out to us. We have also retained Janet Fine, whose decades of experience working with victims and survivors of sexual abuse in various capacities and with other schools, systems, agencies and institutions will assist us in this effort.  

While we are writing this letter in direct response to the report about Mr. Phillips, we encourage reporting about any similar issues so that we can do all that we can to address concerns as swiftly and meaningfully as possible. If you wish to contact us, we are providing a few avenues for doing so. Janet can be reached via phone at 617-548-1125 or via email at janetefine@gmail.com. 

I appreciate that this is difficult news to hear and I regret having to share it. At the same time, I believe it is important information for you to have, particularly if it spurs you to share information that you believe to be relevant to this situation. While I am not in a position to predict the timing of any updates to the community, you have my pledge that I will continue to keep you informed to the very best of my ability.

Best Regards,

Joseph J. Perry
Former Head of School
 

Dear Current Derby Parents:

We wanted to send a brief follow-up to the letter you received this afternoon regarding recent allegations of sexual misconduct that occurred in the 1970s by an individual who was employed by Derby at the time. We understand that you may choose to address this disturbing topic at home, and we appreciate the fact that doing so at a comfort level for each individual family is essential. Below are a few resources that may be helpful should you consider having a discussion with your children. 

• Child Help.org: How Parents Should Talk to Their Kids About Abuse
• Stop It Now.org: Tip Sheet: Talking to Children and Teens
• NBC News: Breaking the Silence: How to Talk to Young Kids about Sexual Assault and Consent

In this age of instant information and access to news, we feel it is important for us to speak directly to students in Grades 6-8 about this matter immediately. Our goal is to acknowledge this news tomorrow to all Upper Schoolers in a factual manner so that all students hear, from us, the same information. We do not plan to discuss this matter with students in Primary, Lower or Middle School.

We will continue holding age appropriate discussions around respect, self-advocacy and healthy relationships within the context of our Social Emotional Curriculum. If you have any questions about how to follow-up with your children at home, please reach out to Julie Browne.

Sincerely,

Mr. Joseph J. Perry
Former Head of School

Mrs. Kate Howell
Head of Middle and Upper School

Scot Chandler
Former Head of Primary and Lower School

Mrs. Julie M. Browne
School Counselor
 

Dear Members of the Derby Community,

Last week we completed our academic year with the 228th celebration of Derby Day. What a beautiful day that was for our graduates!

Before summer gets into full swing, I wanted to reach out to update you on the status of our investigation into allegations of sexual abuse in the early 1970s by former Derby science teacher Robert Stephen Phillips. Though our investigation is not complete, I and the Board of Trustees believe it is important to communicate the process we continue to follow.

We are in communication with alumni, former faculty members, other institutions, and legal authorities as part of a complete investigation. These interactions include interviews, therapeutic conversations, reports, and letters. We continue to reach out to both our past community members and the broader community to ensure we are doing all we can to aid our discovery, and also help heal any victims of Mr. Phillips. We will continue this process over the next few months and again ask that anyone with information please either contact Janet Fine or me directly. It is my hope that by the time we return in September, I will be in a position to advise our community of our findings. Our focus remains on helping any victims heal, and aiding in their future well-being.

Thank you all and please have a safe and enjoyable summer!

Joseph J. Perry
Former Head of School

Dear Members of the Derby Academy Community,

I write to provide an update to a letter I sent to the community this past spring. At that time, I shared that we had received a report that Robert Stephen Phillips, a past science teacher and coach who worked at Derby from 1969-73, engaged in sexual misconduct with students while employed at Derby. I indicated that the information we received was corroborated by reports of similar misconduct on Mr. Phillips’ part while he was employed at another school, prior to teaching at Derby. I encouraged any alumnus who might have been victimized, by Mr. Phillips or by anyone else for that matter, to let us know, so that we might better understand our past and respond with appropriate support. I provided multiple channels for reporting, including outreach to Janet Fine, a victim advocate who has extensive experience working with victims of sexual abuse in schools.  

Over the course of several months, we heard from a number of alumni and we also reached out to individuals who worked with Mr. Phillips at Derby many decades ago. I want to personally thank those alumni who came forward to provide Derby with information about Mr. Phillips; we know that is not easy for anyone in such circumstances and appreciate the courage it took to do so. As a result of that outreach to the community and the steps alumni took to respond, we now have cause to believe that Mr. Phillips abused at least two, and perhaps more Derby students, and likely also abused other non-Derby students in the community. Following up on all that came to our attention over the past six months, we took a number of key steps: we notified law enforcement personnel both locally and where Mr. Phillips now lives; we notified the two youth organizations with which Mr. Phillips has had more recent interactions since relocating out west; and we contacted all schools and institutions we know to have employed him, either before he came to Derby or after he left us to work elsewhere.

Separately, but also in response to our initial letter to the community, we heard from one alumna who indicated that in the late 1950s, when she was a student at Derby, she was sexually assaulted by a man who worked in the maintenance department. The man she identified has long since passed away.

I am deeply saddened to corroborate that a former Derby teacher and a member of our maintenance staff betrayed the trust of students and caused harm. I am grateful to report that we received no reports of any such misconduct presently or in recent years. I am incredibly proud of the efforts that are ongoing by our administration and faculty to ensure that Derby is a safe and nurturing environment for our students. We have strengthened existing protocols and implemented additional policies to assure that should additional reports arise, our employees are trained in the processes to address the needs of those impacted, and coordinate with appropriate authorities. We conduct extensive background checks on all employees consistent with state and federal law and educate all employees on community expectations about healthy relationships with all of our students. Current school practices also include professional development requirements in the areas of advising and mandatory reporting. It is imperative that everyone in our community feels comfortable speaking up and speaking out about student safety and wellbeing.

Once again, I am grateful to the individuals who came forward to share information about their experiences. My hope is that the information gleaned from those who reported about Mr. Phillips will provide some measure of validation and vindication for others who may also have been victimized by him. Our door remains open for anyone wishing to contact either myself or Janet Fine.

As head of school, I hope that I will never again feel the need to write to the Derby community about sexual abuse in the School’s past. You have my promise that if we learn anything additional as a result of our work on this matter, and if we believe it to hold significance, I will write again.

Best Regards,

Joseph J. Perry
Former Head of School

Janet Fine
Independent Victim Advocacy Consultant
617-548-1125
janetefine@gmail.com