John Hendricks, Deans of the Arts | The St. Paul’s Schools
John Hendricks has served as Dean of the Arts at The St. Paul’s Schools since 2014, leading the 20 faculty and staff in the Visual and Performing Arts Department and cultivating opportunities for outreach in the region and nationally. Currently, he serves on the board of the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance. Prior to joining St. Paul’s, he was the Music Department Chair and a choral music educator at The Buckley School in Sherman Oaks, Ca., and President of the Southern California Vocal Association. As a professional vocalist, he recorded for Neil Diamond, “The Tonight Show,” NBC, Dream Theater, members of Guns N’ Roses, and others. Hendricks holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Stanford University and Master’s degree from the University of Miami and is currently completing graduate studies at the Johns Hopkins School of Education.
What drew you to education?
From a young age, I always wanted to work with students, though my path to becoming an educator was somewhat accidental. During the time I was working in L.A. as a session singer, another vocalist I knew was teaching at The Buckley School. She referred me to be a substitute for voice lessons. I accepted this challenge and immediately loved teaching! The school asked me to sub more often in all variety of subjects and grade levels—and then offered me a choral position a year later. From there, I had a great boss for 15 years who taught me how to teach. It was the greatest “accident” that could have happened.
What do you like about your current school?
I love St. Paul’s because of its commitment to the arts and the wonderful community. Within each school, you have the small-school feel but you also get the opportunities that come with being part of a large campus. We have a wide range of courses and productions, supportive families, talented students and teachers, and a constant influx of guest artists. As professionals, we are trusted every day to innovate and create exceptional experiences for our students and families. I particularly appreciate our schools right now because we made the philosophical and practical decision to grow, not pull back on, our arts programming during the pandemic.
What do you hope to achieve in your role?
I want to assist our talented faculty in creating new, cutting-edge courses to increase the range of classes we offer in music, visual art, theatre, technical theatre, woodworking, dance, and digital art. I want us to be the hub of arts education in the region—a place where we can welcome, support, captivate, and challenge all students from the beginner to the most advanced pre-professional artist—representing a diversity of experiences and backgrounds. I want our students to use their creativity to explore and understand the connections between the arts and every other discipline through increasingly integrated lessons and projects. And I want us to be kind, involved citizens in our community.
