Kirk Smothers is the Head of School at DVFriends. Over the course of more than twenty-five years, Kirk has served in various roles in the education field, including as a teacher, college admissions officer, college guidance director, and Upper School director. He joined DVFriends from Mary McDowell Friends School in Brooklyn, New York, where he served as the founding director of the Upper School division. Prior to that, Kirk was the Upper School Director at The Calhoun School on Manhattan's Upper West Side. At Calhoun, he held several positions, including Director of Student Affairs and Director of College Counseling. Kirk also worked at the Barrie School in Silver Spring, Maryland, where he was the Director of College Guidance, Division Leader for the 11th and 12th grades, and taught humanities in the Upper School division. His career in education began as an Assistant Director of Admission at St. John's College in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Kirk earned his B.A. from Cornell College with a double major in History and Economics & Business. He holds a Master of Education degree from Columbia University, Teachers College, Klingenstein Center, as well as an M.A. in Liberal Arts from St. John's College in Annapolis, Maryland, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. Additionally, Kirk is a graduate of the Institute for Engaging Leadership in Friends Schools of the Friends Council on Education.
Currently, Kirk serves as a trustee and is a member of the executive committees of the Friends Council on Education and the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools. He also holds the position of treasurer at The Friends Collaborative, a scholarship organization that raises funds to enable hundreds of students to attend Friends schools in Pennsylvania. Previously, he served as a trustee of Mary McDowell Friends School before founding its Upper School.
As a practicing Quaker, Kirk is a member of the Brooklyn Monthly Meeting, and he has also served as a Trustee to the New York Quarterly Meeting. He is married to Sarah Clarke, who is the Director of the Quaker United Nations Office in New York.
