Kevin G. Bartkovich
"Sometimes heroism is nothing more than patience, curiosity, and a refusal to panic." — Leif Enger, Peace Like a River
Education
B.S. Johns Hopkins University
Masters/Engineering Johns Hopkins University
Ph.D. Duke University
Biography
I grew up in a suburb of Baltimore where, as a junior high student, I was mentored by my future Exeter colleague Joe Wolfson. This was a foundational experience for me as a student and as a teacher. I studied math and engineering at Johns Hopkins, where I played soccer and taught in the precursor to the Center for Talented Youth. I went to grad school at Duke to work on the startup of the Talent Identification Program. At the same time, I was a founding faculty member at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics (NCSSM). I taught with wonderful colleagues at NCSSM for 17 years, co-authoring innovative textbooks for precalculus and calculus, and coaching varsity soccer. I then embarked upon a 10-year missionary adventure in Uganda where my wife, JD, and I established Christ School Bundibugyo, a secondary boarding school located in a remote village near the border with Congo. We returned to the U.S. in 2008 and moved to Exeter in the fall of 2009.
I am passionate about doing math around the Harkness table using our problem-based curriculum; I can’t imagine a more interesting way to teach math. In addition to our core curriculum, I love teaching electives such as lab-based calculus, statistics, and dynamical systems. Outside of the classroom, I am the girls varsity soccer coach. I’m also adviser to the Chess Club and the competitive Chess Team.
Since 2010 I have been living in Ewald Dorm and serving as dorm head. My family is active in the historic Congregational Church in Exeter. JD and I have five children: Joe ’16, Louisa ’18, twins Nate and Sav, and Lexi. In addition, having learned in Uganda that “there is always room for one more,” we are foster parents and open our home to children in need. I like running in 5K races when my body allows, and I’m always looking for a good read.