Dr. Elana Elster

Was your middle school experience anything like Booker T.?
Totally different. I grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, and went to a small private school, attending the same building from elementary through high school. I was with the same 25 kids from 1st to 12th grade.

What brought you to the bustling world of NYC public schools?
After college, I wanted to move to New York because that's where my friends were moving. My mother had started her career teaching in a NYC public school and thought it would be a good career move for me. But it was nothing like what I imagined. Especially 33 years ago! I got hired to teach social studies at Joan of Arc Junior High the Friday before Labor Day. I was very shy and quiet in those days, and with my private school background, the principal thought I was far too sheltered to survive in a rough public school. She said, “I’m only hiring you because school starts Tuesday and I have two openings. I suggest you go home and watch Blackboard Jungle over the weekend [a 1955 movie about a rough NYC school].” I had no idea what it even was. And as I was leaving, I don’t know what possessed me, I turned to her and said, “Well, maybe my "million-dollar education" will pay off for you!” It did, actually, but it was quite a learning experience. I transitioned to teaching math for 12 years at Booker T. before taking on some classroom administrative things. I’m in my 16th year as principal.

What is your funniest memory of middle school?
Several times, I made appointments with the school headmaster with suggestions on how to run the place! But let’s just say they did things the way they did things. I wouldn’t give up though. At one point, my mother outlawed discussions about school on the way home or at dinner time. She said we should talk about something else other than my middle-school suggestions for a better-run school.
​Were you in the band? Everyone always says you’re such a “rock star”.
I wish. I tried piano lessons as a kid but I’m musically illiterate. I can’t even keep a beat. When we had our first faculty talent show, I remember saying I had nothing to do. My grandparents had a house in Atlantic City, and those were the days of the Miss America pageant. I remember saying to my mother that I would never have a “talent.” And she said—this is so embarrassing—“Well you could organize a closet!” Organize a closet??

What about school clubs?
I was the editor of the yearbook, I was on student government, all the academic things you would probably expect. I did play softball in high school—honestly to get it on my college application—but I spent the entire season praying for rain!

Was there a middle school teacher who had a profound effect on you?
Mrs. Landy. She taught reading enrichment and I still remember reading the books with her, like The Count of Monte Cristo. She still works at the school. I just e-mailed with her earlier this week, and she’s like, "Stop calling me Mrs. Landy! We’re colleagues!” But I will never stop calling her that. She was so classy, kind, hard working. I just wanted to be her. She went to Penn too, which probably influenced me to go there.

​If you could go back in time and give your middle-school self one piece of advice, what would it be?
In hindsight? Have more fun. Don’t be such a “goody two shoes."
Dr. Elster going to her first day of school.

How did middle school shape who you are today?
I’m still closest with my friends from middle school. We sat next to each other every day then, and now they live in New York and we still see and talk to each other all the time. I worked really hard in middle school. I took a typing class after class because someone said it would help me write better. I was always trying to accelerate myself. My son, who went to Booker T., just graduated Princeton and I was pleasantly surprised when I read his thesis. He acknowledged four Booker T. teachers for sending him on the path. I have a daughter also. She’s a senior in high school.

What do you miss most about Booker T. with so many students and teachers at home?
The drama! There’s always some crazy story that only happens in middle school. I miss the noise, the interaction, all the stuff that makes it fun. The kids miss it too. I also miss having the kids in my office.

Wait, doesn’t getting sent to the principal mean you’re in trouble?
My office is filled with kids who can’t sit still in class, or get up to walk, and end up here all the time. I get enjoyment from my discussions with them about everything. They always have suggestions of what school should be. And I get a kick out of that, because I was like that, too.

Any hobbies or skills we’d be delighted to discover about you?
I won the Booker T. Christmas Cookie Baking Contest! It was a blind contest so no one knew that those strictly kosher Christmas Tree sugar cookies were mine. I’m also very crafty. I sew, needlepoint, knit, crochet. I even made my back-to-school dress last year. Going further back, in 7th grade I won the Alexandria Public Library Summer Program contest for reading the most books! I went cross country that summer with my family and brought a whole suitcase of library books. My father kept yelling, “Look at this beautiful country! We’re in the Grand Canyon! Put your book down!!”

Who is your favorite author?
Oh, definitely Betty Smith. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It’s a coming of age story set in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in the 1940s. I actually reread it during the pandemic. I had finished all my library books so had to go back to my bookshelf. But I’m not afraid to admit that I read trashy novels on the beach.
Lauren Parker is a freelance writer and 7th Grade Booker T. parent.