While her role as upper division head has only just begun, Aimée Bates has already left an indelible imprint on the School. After a first career as a journalist, she arrived to Stevenson as a full-time English teacher and has served as coach, resident faculty member, English department chair, associate dean of students, and associate head of the upper division, and she now brings this entire spectrum of Stevenson experience to bear on her new role as head of the upper division.
Mrs. Bates envisions serving as a bridge connecting Stevenson’s past to its present and future. A 17-year veteran of RLS, Mrs. Bates is committed to serving this community where she met her husband, faculty member Justin Bates ’99, and where the pair are raising their two children, currently attending the lower division, on the Pebble Beach campus. “This is our home,” she explains. “It’s simply always been a part of our family’s routine to explore campus and attend every kind of school event as a family. Our kids have grown up looking up to and learning from all of these fantastic older Stevenson students.”
She brings her background as a writer and her writer’s eye to her new role, eager to translate many years of keen observation and deep institutional knowledge into a new chapter for the upper division. “I am really an observer by nature, attuned to the details, trying to understand an individual’s—and now a community’s—needs. Cultivating a community that pursues joy is more integral than ever, and we’re excited as a School to continue interrogating those skills that students need to find meaning, joy, and future success in our complex and ever-changing world.”
Mrs. Bates looks forward to serving as a steward for the upper division, knowing intuitively from years of observation, listening and learning what makes this community so wonderful: “It’s exciting to be a part of what I hope will be the next, best chapter in Stevenson’s exceptional story.” The School looks forward to seeing her unique signature on the School’s present, and now, future.
