The Quintessential Renaissance Man

For much of his youth, his family lived without common amenities such as indoor plumbing, running water, air conditioning, and heat, except that which was provided by a kerosine floor furnace.

 

When the animals needed feeding, he arose early and fed them.

 

When something broke, he figured a way to fix it.

 

When the grass grew tall, he used an old-fashioned manual push mower to cut it.

 

Except for a couple of years, his parents homeschooled him and his three brothers, whom they felt needed the aesthetic opportunities beyond those offered in the local classrooms and because the bus ride to the nearest school took nearly an hour each way.

 

You might say, then, that Fletcher Collins’s origins were humble.

 

Yeah, maybe, the Collegiate School icon who will retire in June will tell you with a smile, but he quickly notes that his first 11 years or so before his family moved to town were truly rich and enlightening and profoundly impactful and formative.

 

Indeed, Collins’s upbringing instilled in him a sense of resilience, uncommon curiosity and creativity, and a hoe-to-the-end-of-the-row work ethic that set the stage for who he truly is: the quintessential Renaissance Man.

 

“My parents were very self-sufficient,” he said of Fletcher Jr., a drama professor at Mary Baldwin College, and Margaret, a teacher who became a playwright. “They moved from the city to this farmhouse. They didn’t live the college professor life.”

 

During the summers, the elder Collinses ran the Oak Grove Theater, and Fletcher and his brothers often found themselves in the company of actors, musicians, and troubadours who made their way through their home and made an indelible impression on their lives.

 

Their home schooling was designed to be equal parts reading, discovery math, and music.

 

“We spent an awful lot of time on music,” Collins said one recent afternoon as he sat in his office in the Middle School, where he’s served as assistant head since 1991. “There were always a lot of musicians around. What a great experience growing up!”

 

Collins sang in the church choir and learned to play the cello, piano, guitar, mandolin, and autoharp.

 

“I’m not a very good musician,” he said in his typical self-effacing manner. “I struggled with it, but I really enjoyed it. There was always a group of musicians having a jam of some sort. I really enjoyed the social part and the creativity part. A lot of times, you’re making it up as you go along. In fact, our parents encouraged us to write our own music, not just play somebody else’s.”

 

The Collins family returned to Staunton when Fletcher was in the 6th grade.

 

“Then we had everything,” he said of the amenities, “but we did not have a TV until my famous brother (Dr. Francis Collins) finally bought (a black-and-white) one with his own money in about 1964. Before that, we would go to the neighbors’ house to watch TV.”

Fletcher attended public middle school in the 6th and 7th grades, then returned to home schooling in 8th. He spent the next three years at Robert E. Lee (now Staunton) High School. Then, just past his 17th birthday and with his course requirements satisfied, he bypassed his senior year and enrolled at Randolph-Macon College without a high school diploma.

 

After two years, he transferred to the University of Virginia, graduated with a B.A. in English, entered a doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and earned his Ph.D. in English with plans to become a college professor.

 

After serving in adjunct roles at several institutions, including Virginia Commonwealth University, Randolph-Macon College, and the University of Richmond, he decided that he was cut out for a different path in life.

 

“When I started having my own kids,” he said, “I found out that teaching kids was much more rewarding to me than college students. Maybe, selfishly, you could see your influence on them or think you had influence on them whether you did or not. With college kids, you see them for one semester, and you don’t see them again.”

 

He ultimately landed a teaching position at Aylett Country Day School and stayed for three years. Head of school Clarke Worthington recognized his talent and potential and recommended him to his friend Cliff Miller, then the head of Collegiate’s Lower School, and in 1977 Collins signed on as a 4th grade teacher.

 

“They hired me to teach in what was called the open classroom, which was an experimental classroom kind of like project-based learning is now but with a different name,” Collins said. “That was quite an experience.”

 

While teaching in the Lower School, he was an early adopter of technology and a director of Collegiate’s summer program, while also finding time to earn an MEd in curriculum and instruction from VCU.

 

In 1986, when the School’s structure changed from the Boys School-Girls School model to the Middle School-Upper School format, he moved across the creek and joined the Middle School team as curriculum coordinator for the 5th and 6th grades.

 

“Bill Reeves (the first head of the Middle School) talked me into it…against my will,” he said with a chuckle. “I’d always said I’d never be an administrator. The curriculum coordinator wasn’t in charge of the day-to-day [operation of the division]. My role was trying to merge the two schools together: the curriculum part, the pedagogy part, the reporting part…everything.”

 

That was no easy task, for sure, but after numerous fits and starts, the Middle School became a cohesive entity.

 

In 1991, Reeves retired, Charlie Blair succeeded him, and Collins became assistant head. At that point, he assumed more responsibility for the day-to-day activities, planning, logistics, and painstaking detail work. In fact, in 2010, a second assistant head position was created to oversee student progress.

 

“There’re really two overlapping circles,” he said of his current professional responsibilities. “One is all about people and interacting with, right now, mostly teachers but also with kids and parents and teachers in other schools. That’s the most important one, but that’s about half of my time.

        

“There’s another circle that’s logistical with a lot of technology involved and spreadsheets and placement processes: placement of kids, Parents Night scheduling, scheduling of classes with (longtime master scheduler) Rives Fleming.

 

“Luckily, those two circles overlap sometimes. It’s really exciting when they do. I enjoy both of them. It takes a lot of effort, but I like that. I don’t just do it out of duty. I do it because I enjoy it: working with faculty, with kids, parents, logistics, technology. I enjoy the creativity of it. I’ve always liked mechanical things.”

 

Which brings us back to his upbringing.

 

Never fearful of rolling up his sleeves and getting dirty, Collins is as handy with his hands as he is nimble of mind and dexterous with his fingers on the computer keyboard (and, actually, the autoharp, a skill and aptitude he displays each spring at the faculty talent show).

 

He does most of his own car repairs. Roof leak? Chances are he fixes it. Furnace on the fritz? He repairs that too. Dead branch on a tree in his yard? Climb a ladder and cut it down.

 

“That comes from growing up in the theater,” he said. “I did a lot of production. I enjoyed that much more than acting. I’m a really poor actor.”

 

That’s Fletcher, too: immensely adept and knowledgeable in so many areas but humble to a fault.

 

The truth of the matter is that, despite operating often behind the scenes, he has been an indispensable member of the Middle School team who, with his unflappable demeanor, keeps the trains moving on schedule, provides sage advice based on a wealth of experience, wisdom, and selfless service, and brings out the very best in colleagues and students.

 

“Fletcher is good to his bones,” said Tung Trinh, Dean of Faculty and Head of the Middle School from 2019-2023. “A gentleman in the widest sense, Fletcher thinks about others before himself. He’s made a wonderful career as an educator who cares deeply about the growth and progress of students and teachers. Fletcher's curiosity fuels his pursuits to do important research to better understand why and how we make decisions and the implications of those decisions.

 

“He has a genuine caring spirit and never seeks the limelight because the process and product are what he cares about most. He’s a welcoming ear who listens well, asks good questions, and demonstrates the power of how far trust and engagement can take you in building community.”

 

There’s more, of course.

 

“I’ve always admired Fletcher,” Fleming said. “The thing that stands out is his positive mindset. He always sees the good in the kids, in the program, and in the people around him. I’ve always been impressed with his ability to stay fresh. He’s such a great thinker, and he lives by the middle school-based philosophy of what is best for the kids and program. Personally, he is such a great person: positive, thoughtful, caring.”

 

What will Collins do in retirement considering that he’ll have more free time than he’s had, maybe, ever? He’s still figuring that out. No doubt he won’t sit still for long. In the meantime, he’ll dust off his tennis racquet and golf clubs and have more time to spend with Janet, his wife of 54 years, their daughters Anne ’92, Dair ’94, and Ruth ’97, and their two young granddaughters.

 

Since Collins’s retirement announcement became public, many in the Collegiate Family have reached out to congratulate and thank him.

 

“I’ve been surprised,” he said. “I thought it was going to be about, you’ve accomplished this and this and this. What people have said to me is much more personal than that. It’s about relationships and having their back and being a collaborator and mentor and not a boss. That’s very gratifying.”

~Weldon Bradshaw