Mr. Bromley's Next Chapter

​We are excited to announce that founding faculty member Mark Bromley will be taking on a new role for the 2020-2021 school year. After 39 extraordinary years of teaching, during which time he has profoundly influenced the lives of thousands of Waterford students, Mr. Bromley will be retiring from full-time teaching to curate and develop Waterford’s new Nature Lab, which will be housed in Mr. Bromley’s current classroom, until the new science building is completed. 

Based on the Nature Lab concept at Rhode Island School of Design, the Waterford Nature Lab will house an extensive mammal collection to be used in the study of both science and art. 

In his new role as Nature Lab Director, Mr. Bromley will curate the mammal collection, write curriculum to support its use by students from PreK to Class XII, and work with students who visit the lab, as schedules allow. 

The mammals currently on display in Mr. Bromley’s room represent only a fraction of the larger Waterford collection. Mr. Bromley is excited to bring more of the collection into use for the benefit of Waterford students. Key to that project is developing curriculum, across multiple grade levels, that fully utilizes the educational value of the collection. Mr. Bromley is also excited to collaborate with visual arts faculty in the development of the Nature Lab as a space for drawing, photographing, and otherwise creatively interacting with the mammal collection.

It is wonderful to know that Waterford will continue to benefit from Mr. Bromley’s vast knowledge and experience, as well as his passion for liberal arts education. But we are also mindful of the significant change in the Waterford community this transition will bring. For the first time in almost 40 years, Mr. Bromley won’t be teaching dedicated science courses. He will continue to teach less directly in his Nature Lab role, but he won’t be a classroom teacher day in and day out. The entire Waterford community, spanning the whole of the school’s history, is deeply grateful to Mr. Bromley for his rare commitment, talent, and passion. We will be celebrating Mark's impact as a teacher in a variety of ways through the coming year. We are also grateful to Mr. Bromley for helping to shape the Nature Lab as his lasting legacy.