Sandy Hook principal ‘born’ to educate
Dawn Hochsprung was hailed as hero after reports surfaced that she died while confronting the gunman in an attempt to protect the children in her care. Now, Hochsprung Center promotes safe schools
When Jerome Steele first met Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung in August 2012, he immediately felt there was something special about her.
Steele is an assistant professor and the chair of the Educational Leadership program at Russell Sage College in New York state. He met Hochsprung when she was at Sage’s Albany campus for its doctoral program.
“I happened to be standing right next to the door when she walked in,” Steele said. “She said, ‘Hi, I’m Dawn Hochsprung, principal at Sandy Hook Elementary.’ ”
Immediately, he said, he sensed Hochsprung had a confidence and enthusiasm that set her apart wherever she went.
“You knew she was someone special,” Steele said. “She represented the best qualities of what a leader of an elementary school was. She was only there (at Sage) for one semester, but she made a lasting impression.”
Four months after meeting Steele, Hochsprung was killed, one of six educators and 20 children to be murdered at Sandy Hook on Dec. 14, 2012. Her legacy lives on nearly 10 years later, though, due to the efforts of her family and people like those she met at Sage.
Shortly after her death, Hochsprung was hailed as hero by many after reports surfaced that she died while confronting the gunman in an attempt to protect the children in her care.
‘Natural fit’ as a principal
One of her daughters, Erica Lafferty, spoke recently about her mother’s bravery while testifying in a defamation awards trial. Lafferty, 37, spoke about growing up with her sister, Tina, and Dawn, a single mother.
Lafferty said it was no surprise to her when her mother decided to go into the education field, first as a teacher and eventually as a principal.
“Anyone who spent more than five minutes with her knew that’s what she was born to do,” Lafferty said. “She was always explaining and teaching and reading and loved kids more than life itself, so it was just a natural fit.”
Her love of children also explained why her mom was willing to give up her life in an attempt to protect her students, Lafferty said. She said, at first, she was “angry” when she heard her mother died confronting the gunman. But, eventually, Lafferty said, she realized that’s who her mom was.
“I can feel nothing but pride about that now,” she said. “She acted no differently than she would if it were my sister and I in that school.”
Promoting mental health, school safety
Though his connection to Hochsprung was fleeting, Steele said she made an immediate impression. That’s why the news of what happened to her hit him hard. Steele said he and his wife were on vacation in Rhode Island when the news of the shooting broke. Later, he recalled receiving an email from one of his colleagues telling him the tragedy had happened at Hochsprung’s school.
“We were kind of in shock when we received that message,” Steele said.
Eventually, they learned that Hochsprung had died in the shooting. In the month following the tragedy, Steele said, those at Sage who knew Hochsprung wanted to do something to honor her memory.
In 2013, Sage established the Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Center for the Promotion of Mental Health and School Safety in her honor. Steele, the director of the center, said the idea behind it is to help develop and share strategies that promote mental health and safe learning environments for all children.
“We’re really trying to bring to forefront some of these issues,” he said.
In 2021, the college also established the Dawn Lafferty Hochsprung Graduate Fellowship — an award for advanced scholarly research in the areas of mental health and/or school safety.
Steele said he can’t believe it’s been 10 years since the shooting. He only saw Hochsprung a handful of times after their initial meeting, but she quickly made friends in her program, one of whom, Steele said, declared Hochsprung “the best of us.”
“She was part of our program,” he said. “We want to keep her memory alive and her spirit alive.”