-by Jane Wrenn and Connie Zhou- What do Winsor students today know about the fabulous quirks of Virginia Wing? First of all, Ms. Wing was the fifth director of the Winsor school. She became director in 1963 and retired in 1988 after a long and successful career. Although current Winsor students do not know her, many teachers remember her fondly. When asked about Ms. Wing, Ms. Taillacq commented, “Ms. Wing is someone that would invest herself in others.  If anyone needed help–be it faculty or student–she would always be there with support and care. She ran a very tight ship.” Ms Taillacq also described her as a “brilliant, fair-minded leader.”

Indeed, Ms. Wing is, in all respects, a brilliant woman. Ms. Wing was extremely dedicated to Winsor and Winsor students. This dedication is evident in the way that she ran the school. Both Ms. Taillacq and Mr. Parrish, who taught when Ms. Wing was director, noted that Ms. Wing knew each and every Winsor girl by name and cared deeply about each student. She had “deep, meaningful connections with every staff member,” and before every exam, she gave all the students a supportive speech. She was strict in her rules, but she still had a wonderful sense of humor. She signed notes about punishments for students who broke the rules as “Ivan T. Wing,” comparing herself to Ivan the Terrible!

Although Ms. Wing’s primary focus was the well-being of her school and students, she also had other passions. Many faculty members remember her undying love for cats. Her office was filled with pictures of her beloved felines. To this day, she still has a pet cat. Mr. Parrish remembers that when Ms. Wing was director, there was a faculty bathroom that Ms. Wing often adorned with magazine cutouts of cats. When she retired, Ms. Wing left the privilege of hanging cat pictures to another teacher who shared the same love for animals as she. Ms. Macaulay reminisced, “Often, you would go into her office and there would be a cat under her desk. She adored cats!” Ms. Wing loved her cats so much that she even brought them into school. She is an inspiration–in her caring and kindness for others and in the way she fills her life with things she loves: her beloved school, her students, and her cats.