Ruby May Foster Shaw
“Never write off any student. Everyone has a contribution to make.”
Ruby Shaw,
a first generation American who diligently dedicated her life to providing educational programs for a diverse student body
, passed away while asleep in her home of 62 years in Norwalk, Connecticut on Friday, May 31, 2019. A native New Yorker, she was born on May 30,1925 to the late Isabel Courtney and George Foster, immigrants to America from Panama and Costa Rica, respectively. Ruby and her two elder sisters, Pearl Hunt and Gloria Clark (both deceased) were raised by Isabel and native Bajan Percival Griffith in Jamaica, Queens, New York City. She carried on many of the traditions of this Afro-Caribbean-Latin heritage in her own household which she shared with deceased husband Charles Shaw, first in Queens and later in Norwalk.
Ruby was an avid reader, accomplished student, and adamant believer in the transformative power of education. By virtue of her high scholarship and commendable service while attending Jamaica High School, she was one of the first Black students to be awarded membership in the Arista League, the honor society of New York City public high schools. Ruby had the grades to qualify for full academic scholarships to the City University of New York's Queens College as well as Columbia University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and sociology from the former in 1945, and a master’s degree in social work from the latter in 1947. She later went on to earn a certificate in administration from Fairfield University.
Putting her college education to good use, Ruby was employed as a case worker at Children and Family Services in Danbury, Connecticut before joining Norwalk Public Schools as a social worker in 1962. She retired from the Norwalk Board of Education twenty-four years later, having served as the Assistant Superintendent for Human Relations and Alternative Education from 1976 to 1986.
Her signature achievement while on the board was the establishment of the district’s first magnet school.
As a working professional, Ruby became “Dr. Shaw” by earning a doctorate in education administration from the University of Bridgeport in 1985. Later in her career
, Dr. Shaw was an adjunct professor at Norwalk Community College where she taught a course on early childhood education.
Constant throughout these professional roles was Dr. Shaw’s passion to make sure that every child had both the opportunity to discover their own path and the resources to develop to their fullest potential. Known for building coalitions among students, families, and school and community groups,
following her retirement
she spearheaded several innovative initiatives such as the Academic Counseling Education (ACE) Program; the Community Leads and Students Succeed (CLASS) Project; the Greater Achievement in Norwalk (GAIN) Program; and the Parents, Administrators, Children and Teachers (PACT) Program. Dr. Shaw is perhaps best known for her work with the “I Have a Dream” Program which, founded in 1999, focused on motivating and supporting
minority children to further their education after high school, thus mirroring her own educational trajectory. She was highly instrumental in the conversion of Columbus Elementary to Columbus Magnet School in 1980, thereby avoiding the school’s closing due to racial segregation concerns while also giving parents a choice about where to send their children. Speaking of choice, Dr. Shaw chose to live in a community that reflected her progressive values. In 1957 she moved her family from New York City to Village Creek in Norwalk, dubbed by the New York Times as a “racially inclusive modernist community” [
www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/realestate/26wczo.html
]. Ruby was drawn especially to Village Creek for its collaborative spirit and commitment to diversity.
Dr. Shaw also was active in the broader community.
She served on the boards of several local agencies including the Ettinger Scholarship Committee, Horizons at Greens Farm Academy, the Human Services Council, the Maritime Aquarium, Norwalk Hospital, the United Way of Norwalk & Wilton, and the Wilkerson Scholarship Fund.
These and other contributions merited her recognition at Norwalk's Commission on the Status of Women’s 1994
Celebrate Women!
dinner, along with being profiled as a “Woman of Substance” by the Connecticut Post that same year. The Voluntary Action Center of Mid-Fairfield awarded her their Volunteer Spirit Award in 2006.
Fondly known as “BB” (aka “Black Beauty” - her self-anointed nickname), Ruby’s hobbies included reading, writing, all manner of card and board games, being around people, and perfecting her personal version of sassiness. She will be lovingly remembered by her three children - Shelley Shaw, a human resources consultant; Frederick C. Shaw,
pastor of the United Church of Christ, Elizabethtown, NY, and pastor of the First Congregational Church, Lewis, NY
; and Jerome M. Shaw of Portola Valley, CA, professor emeritus of science education at the Santa Cruz campus of the University of California; grandchildren Solana, Kamao, Randi, and Michael, and great grandchildren Dominique and Logan, along with numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
A celebration of Dr. Shaw’s life will be held on Saturday, July 13th at Columbus Magnet School, 46 Concord Street in Norwalk from 10 AM to 12 Noon.
A charitable fund has been set up in Dr. Shaw’s name at Schwab Charitable. Tax deductible gifts to the charitable account can be made payable to “The Ruby Shaw Charitable Fund” and mailed to:
Schwab Charitable
P.O. Box 628298
Orlando, FL 32862
For contributions via wire, EFT or of stock, please use these
delivery instructions
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