<b>Millbrook Welcomes Jon Downs '98 as Director of Admission</b>
Millbrook School is delighted to announce that as of July 1, Jonathan R. Downs, a member of the class of 1998, began his new position as Millbrook’s director of admission, a position created as longtime admission director, Cindy McWilliams moves to the alumni/development side of Callard House. Jon achieved great success as a student at Millbrook - as Student Council president, an all-school prefect, a 12-letter athlete and three-sport captain, and winner of both the Sportsmanship Cup and the Class of 1978 Award - and as we welcome him back, we expect in his new role that he will continue to shine.
After leaving Millbrook, Jon attended Middlebury College where he majored in English and minored in American history as a dean’s list student, then a College Scholar. He also played hockey for the Panthers and captained their baseball team his senior year. After Middlebury, he earned two master’s degrees — an M.A. from Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School of English and an M. Ed. from Harvard Graduate School of Education, specializing in Independent School Leadership. He accomplished all of this while working full time at first Newark Academy in Livingston New Jersey, then at Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina.
At Newark Academy Jon was a teacher and coach and also an integral member of Newark’s admission team, helping to interview prospective students and representing the school at admission fairs and open houses. He did the same when he headed to Providence Day School in 2008 where he conducted prospective student interviews for PDA by sitting on the Upper School Admissions Committee, leading student panels, speaking at all open houses and organizing a Buddy Program as part of new student orientation.
About his new position Jon commented, “I am honored to become the director of admission at Millbrook. Millbrook opened many doors in my life when it took a chance on me in the summer of 1995. It is the singular reason why I have chosen a career in education. Now, to stand at the front door of Callard House, accompanied by the warmest admission team in the Northeast, and say to prospective families, ‘Welcome to Millbrook,’ feels utterly surreal. We have lots of exciting work ahead of us, and I am eager to begin.”
We are looking forward to welcoming Jon and his wife, Erin, to campus (they’re newlyweds — just married on March 13). Erin will also be diving into her new position on campus – assistant director of communications — so the Downses will both be members of the Callard House team. We wish them all the best as they begin their Millbrook careers and their new lives together at Millbrook.
