'Excellence without exclusivity': Barbara Porter, founder of St. Francis School in Austin, retires

"It's easy to get along with people just like us," says Barbara Porter, who founded Austin's St. Francis School in 1985 and plans to retire after 36 years as head of school on June 30. "It's not as easy getting along with people who are different — religiously, academically or economically."

Porter, 78, grew up in North England, taught in private schools around the U.S., then teamed up with engaged Austin parents to create an inclusive, nondenominational place of learning that is academically rigorous, but not culturally inflexible, for pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.

"In the beginning, it was only the sheer genius and charisma and leadership of Barbara Porter that held St. Francis together," says Douglas Laycock, former professor at the University of Texas Law School and one of the early backers of St. Francis. "She inspired everyone else, parents and teachers, to do amazing things as they built a school together.

"There were only 50 families that first year. Teachers were great, but she could only pay them $9,000; that's about $23,000 today. For years, the only employees were Barbara and the teachers. Parents and volunteers did everything else."

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Now at the University of Virginia, Laycock and his wife, Teresa A. Sullivan, president of the UVA from 2010 to 2018, met Porter because their first son was rejected as too young to start at other elementary schools in town.

Porter told them instead: "I don't care about his age. I want to meet the child."

Porter's educational philosophy, "excellence without exclusivity," has fueled St. Francis through the years with a growing staff and student body at a series of locations. It matches well with the school's namesake.

"He was such a good guy," Porter says of St. Francis of Assisi. "He took care of people. He took care of animals. He embodied everything we care about. And oh, there was no school in Austin with that name at the time."

The road to the US and St. Francis

Barbara Porter was born on March 17, 1944 — near the end of World War II — in the mill town of Burnley in Lancashire. She grew up in nearby Barrowford.

"You could see the glow of Manchester 30 miles away," says Porter, who has not lost her plucky, matter-of-fact North English manner of speaking.

Her father worked as managing director of a firm considered a critical wartime supplier of textiles. He also served in the National Guard. Her mother was a homemaker.

Sporty, athletic and adventurous, Porter remembers being pretty outgoing and a bit of rebel.

"My sister always said: 'Never let her go downstairs,'" Porter recalls with smile. "'She'll be holding forth and telling all the family secrets.'"

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Like other middle-class English families of the day, the Porters traveled, but not widely, mostly to old seaside resorts, which had lost some of their prewar luster.

Porter studied at the Victoria School of Education at Manchester University.

"I wasn't bookish at all," she quips. "Maybe that's why I'm so good at my job.

"In truth, I loved literature and my English teachers. My favorite was D.H. Lawrence. My mother hid my copy of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' in the cake tin. I go for a piece of cake and there's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover.'"

Porter taught in a series of schools during the 1960s, including a "really tough place," Stamford Hill Primary School in London.

"My class was made up of 38 kids, ages 7 to 8, from all over the world," Porter remembers. "And me a brand new teacher. That taught me everything I know."

The ardent Beatles fan took that hard-won teaching wisdom to a high school in her hometown before making a break with English provincial life.

"I ran away to the U.S. to avoid marrying a man who was still pursuing me," she jokes. "My dad said: 'If you want to go, go.'"

From 1968 to 1971, she taught at a private Episcopalian school in Indianapolis.

"It was wonderful," Porter says. "Way ahead of its time. Integrated. The rest of the city was not.

"They recruited three other English teachers and we all lived in the same four-bedroom house. I think our rent was $30 a month each, but then again, we were only making $3,400 a year."

Porter spent the next four years at a school in Sacramento, California, that taught the children of some state leaders, including those of Gov. Ronald Reagan and future Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy.

She married Wayne Porter, a career Air Force officer, and followed him to Spain for three years. She rejected, however, life on base.

"An officer's wife is not my style," she says. "If you want to send me to hell, that's the place."

Bergstrom Air Force Base in Austin was their last posting.

Wayne Porter had three adult children from a previous marriage. They have a son, Chris Porter. He's now 42 and an electrician.

"He loved St. Francis," Porters says. "Once, though, he asked: 'Mom, why are you harder on me than anyone else?'"

The Porters were married for 17 years. They remain on good terms.

Teaching and leading in Austin

In Austin, Porter had resumed her teaching career at the Strickland School at 45th and Red River streets.

"It was a very conservative, old-fashioned," Porter says. "Not my cup of tea. I used to creep past the door of the teacher's lounge so I wouldn't have to chat."

Next came Resurrection Episcopal School in northwest Austin, where at first she taught 4-year-olds part-time.

"I didn't know that to do, other than teach them how to read," Porter says. "Somehow I became what was known back then as 'headmistress.'"

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A battle between the diocese and Porter, who refused to fire some veteran teachers, eventually led to the diocese closing Resurrection. Some concerned parents approached Porter to start St. Francis.

They started out with 50 students and moved from one set of temporary quarters to another, including the old, leaky Commodore Perry estate that, after years of extensive renovation, has since become a luxury hotel.

Certain very engaged parents eventually led St. Francis to its current home, a two-story office building north of Austin Community College Highland Campus. A gym and a soccer field followed.

"No banks were giving loans to schools back then," Porter says. "They made us take out an insurance policy on me in case I became incapacitated."

Parents, few of them especially wealthy, helped out enormously along the way.

"Certain backers — Doug Laycock and his wife, Terry Sullivan. Melanie Barnes and Ben Barnes, who had two adopted children. If it weren't for parents like them, we'd never have made it," she says.

The student body had grown to 120 by the time it had moved into its current digs; it now stands at 385. The faculty has grown from 15 at the time of the move to more than 60, including part-time.

Tuition ranges from $8,354 to $11,376 a year. In addition, more than $400,000 is reserved for scholarships.

One of the school's strengths, parent after parent says in a testimonial video shown at Porter's retirement party, is taking the kids as they are.

"Another administrator told me that my son might never learn to read," says Linda van Bavel. "And I was crushed by that. ... So when I went to Barbara and started looking into St. Francis and told her about the difficulties, her immediate response was: 'There's probably a gift in that.'

"That lightened my load and re-ignited my love for the process and re-engaged me in my own son's education.

"I did not expect how much I would love this school and its culture of inclusion. And how that has enriched my own life and the life of my children. ... As regards to my son, he's now in 11th grade and has a 3.9 GPA and is looking forward all kinds of college experiences."

St. Francis students tend to head to high schools with similar cultures, among them the Griffin School, St. Stephen's Episcopal School and St. Andrews Episcopal School. Among the public schools, destinations include the Liberal Arts and Science Academy, Anderson High and Austin High.

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How has Porter pulled it off?

"The accent is huge," jokes peer Adam Wilson, founder of the Griffin School, where he is now head of school. "Somehow Barbara can be brutally honest and direct, and still come off as charming and endearing and warm somehow.

"I've been at many meetings that have been too serious and where there's been an awkwardness in the space. With a wave of the hand and a pithy remark, Barbara can cut right through the noise and change the whole dynamic in the room. ...

"But the accent is huge. It somehow brings it all together in this really beautiful way."

'I'll miss the kids and the people'

Porter's partner, Robin Doughty, is a UT professor emeritus who taught geography and the environment. He has become quite the birder and now is much sought after as a guest lecturer on cruise ships.

"These are nice ships," Porter says. "I get to come along. All I have to do is pay my way there."

The couple live in Lakeway, in part because Porter is a big tennis fan and the town on Lake Travis cultivates the sport. She dreams of hitting all the Grand Slam tournaments — she already has attended Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

These days, she's less likely to be seen on the courts, however, than walking Lakeway's many trails with Gordie, their 6-year-old English bulldog.

World travel, gourmet cooking and pet-walking can only go so far. True retirement for such an outgoing person is a bit daunting.

"I'll miss the kids and the people," Porter says. "Some are friends. Recently, I've been meeting all these people and I say to them: 'I'm sorry that I'll never get to know you, because I won't be here.'"

Michael Barnes writes about the people, places, culture and history of Austin and Texas. He can be reached at mbarnes@statesman.com.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Barbara Porter, founder of St. Francis School in Austin, is retiring