THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502140122
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DAWSON MILLS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Another era in the history of the Williams School, in Ghent, is about to end.
At the end of the school year, the school's third headmaster, Dr. Frederic R. Walker, will step down from the post he has held since 1981. He will stay on for two additional years as the school's development officer before retiring.
The Williams School Board has voted to appoint W. Barton Baldwin, assistant headmaster since the start of the 1993-94 school year, to succeed Walker. Baldwin came to Williams from Norfolk Academy, where he spent eight years, the last four as assistant director of the Lower School.
Walker came to Williams from Cape Cod Academy in Massachusetts where he also had served as headmaster. He arrived in Norfolk on the heels of an attempt by the school's founders to close the institution to stave off bankruptcy. Immediately before his arrival, the school, which had been incorporated as a non-profit institution in 1976, had expanded its board to include concerned parents. The parents had raised sufficient money to purchase the building outright from the founding family, which until that time still owned it.
Walker's blueprint included a three-pronged effort to secure the school's long-range prospects. First he sought accreditation to recognize Williams' academic standards and achievements. Second, he embarked upon a campaign to raise sufficient funds to upgrade the physical plant. After accomplishing the first two objectives, he moved to create an endowment fund sufficient to cushion the school against economic hard times.
In addition to his duties as headmaster, Walker has kept his hand in the classroom, teaching several classes each year.
Having studied economics and financial management as an undergraduate at Lafayette College, Walker also has served as the school's business manager.
His efforts have enhanced the long-range prospects of the school, which enrolls students in kindergarten through grade eight. An enrollment of 145 is projected for 1995-96. In four years, the endowment fund - Walker's cornerstone for the school's future - has gone from zero to $128,000.
Former Williams School Board Chairman Frank L. Leonard talked about the devotion Walker has shown since coming to the school:
``He took on the school as if it were his own alma mater and has dedicated himself to preserving the traditions and history which have made the school the institution that it is. . . . The parents and students of Williams will always owe Dr. Walker a debt which can never be paid.''
As he prepares to devote his attention to the development and financial concerns of the school, Walker has one other wish.
``I want to write the history of the school, to be the school archivist,'' he said. ``We have more information from the 1930s than from the '40s. We don't even have student lists. Most of these people (the students) are still alive. I'd like the older alumni to get together, to talk and look at pictures.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Walker
by CNB