Hello and welcome. In addition to answering your questions about our school and its program, we hope our site gives you a sense of the character of Connecticut Friends School. We believe CFS is a compelling model of a school community for all its constituents: students, families, staff, and friends.
Within a Friends school, there is an excitement from being in a place where it is considered ‘cool’ to enjoy learning, to respect intelligence and achievement, to value collaboration over competition. Our school is a jewel amongst schools in this area because it is an intimate environment where everyone is known and supported.
We put a premium on this quality of being known and appreciated, and both the scale and organization of our program reflect this. Our students come to possess an uncommon poise and an uncommon kindness. Imagine a class of 2nd, 3rd and 4th grade students presenting their LiterARTure projects to a roomful of parents, staff and middle school students. Our middle school students step outside of the gravity of young adolescent self-absorption and honor the work of their young schoolmates with genuine appreciation. That these types of events are daily occurrences at CFS makes them no less extraordinary.
We describe what we do here as serious work in a joyous atmosphere. We hope you’ll come visit and see for yourself.
Yours truly,
Kim Tsocanos and Mark Dansereau
Co-Heads of Connecticut Friends School
Scott Davidson, Trustee since 2011
Scott is a managing director at RAIT Financial Trust, where he leads the firm's capital markets activities. Prior to RAIT, he was a managing director and a group head at J. P. Morgan as well as a portfolio manager at two hedge funds. A current parent of two CFS students, Scott and his wife Kelly reside in Westport. Scott earned his undergraduate degree from The George Washington University and his MBA from the Yale School of Management.
Frederick Dettmer, Trustee since 2003
Clerk, Board of Trustees
Fred is an attorney in private practice, with a specialty in civil litigation and nonprofits. He earned his undergraduate degree from University of California, Santa Cruz and attended Yale Law School. A birthright Friend, Fred is a member of Purchase Monthly Meeting in Westchester. He has been active in such Quaker organizations as Friends Council on National Legislation, American Friends Service Committee, New York Yearly Meeting, Bolivia Quaker Education Fund, and Friends Peace Teams. In his spare time, Fred referees soccer games and rides a motorcycle. He and his wife have two sons, one of whom graduated from the George School in 2006.
Harris Goldblat, Trustee since 2011
A current CFS parent, Harris is a managing director and attorney at Legg Mason Inc., a global asset management firm. Harris and his wife, Becca, and their two boys reside in Westport. Harris earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and his JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Munro Johnson, Trustee since 2007
Munro is an urban planner at the Norwalk Redevelopment Agency, where he oversees the design, development, delivery and community approval of projects such as the Wall Street redevelopment initiative. Previously, he worked for Middletown, Connecticut’s Department of Planning Conservation and Development, where he wrote Middletown Design: A Framework for Development. It received an Award for Excellence from the Connecticut Planning Association. In addition, he has worked for the Shimizu Corporation in Japan, the City of New London, and on a transportation study for Philadelphia. Munro earned his master’s of city planning from the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated from Oberlin College with a major in Eastern Asian Studies and is fluent in Japanese. A birthright Friend, Munro transferred his membership from Westerly Monthly Meeting in Rhode Island to Wilton Monthly Meeting in 2003.
Pete McCaughan, Trustee since 2012
Pete McCaughan spent his professional life in data processing services for the payroll and human resources industry. He designed software for payroll services and was involved in account relationship management, program and project management, regional and corporate product management, product and business development, and strategic planning.
Since 1968 Pete has been active in Friends Meetings in Honolulu, HI, Marin County, CA, St. Paul, MN, Atlanta, GA, and Wilton, CT. He is a member of Wilton Monthly Meeting and currently serves as its treasurer. He sits on the board of Friends Publishing Corporation, the not-for-profit publisher of Friends Journal. Pete attended Reed College and received his BA from the University of Hawaii.
Pete resides with his wife Renda in New Milford, CT. They have two grown children, David and Michael, and a grandchild, Samantha.
Lynne Murray, Trustee since 2009, Treasurer
Lynne worked in Operations Management, specifically in the area of Road and Bridge Maintenance and Facility Maintenance, at one time supervising an organization comprised of over 850 people and a $50 million budget. She earned her MBA in Operations Management at Columbia University and her undergraduate degree in Economics and Statistics from Rutgers University. She is an active attendee at Purchase Monthly Meeting in Purchase, New York, where she lives with her husband, Brian Hoffmann. Their children, Caleigh, Dylan, and Anya, are current students at Connecticut Friends School.
Jane Olsen, Trustee since 2008
Jane is a fifth grade teacher at St. Luke’s School in New Canaan. She earned a BA in Russian Studies from Wellesley and did graduate work in Russian History at Columbia University (MA, Phil, and Certificate of International Affairs) as a President’s Fellow. Jane worked for a Washington think tank debriefing émigré Soviet scientists and hosting official Soviet visitors. During the 14 years she was home raising children, she was a volunteer for the Board of the River Study Environmental Education Program for school districts on the Norwalk River (including running the Ridgefield program in elementary schools) and serving as director of several major soccer tournaments. A birthright Friend, Jane grew up in Long Island’s Westbury Meeting. Her parents were founders of Westbury Friends School, which she attended. She also attended George School and went to Friends World College, co-founded by her father. Currently a member of Purchase Meeting, she is a member of the Corporation of the American Friends Service Committee. Jane served for ten years on the Board of Oakwood Friends School. She and her husband, Robert, have three daughters and live in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Their daughter Emma graduated from Earlham College in 2008.
Cindy Potter, Trustee since 2011
Cindy is a Vice President with Starwood Hotels, overseeing a portfolio of owned real estate. Previously she developed, acquired and consulted on hotel real estate. A current parent to two CFS students, Cindy is a member of the Unitarian Church in Westport, active in the religious education and RE Social Justice programs. Cindy received her BS in Hotel Administration from Cornell University.
