Deighton Alleyne, a popular Washington Episcopal School math teacher whose fast-paced educational methods challenged students, died Tuesday of complications from a stroke.
Nancy Wright, the interim head of the Bethesda school, sent a letter to parents Tuesday notifying them of Alleyne’s passing.
“With a booming voice, ‘Mr. A’ set high standards and used no-nonsense methods to engage students in the classroom,” Wright wrote. “Deighton regularly challenged students by running his lessons in a fast tenor and keeping students involved and engrossed with intense rounds of questions and answers especially during his math lessons. He was always quick to provide a needed word of praise and sometimes even a bear hug to support his students. Whenever I walked by his room, I could feel the energy emanating out into the hallway.”
Alleyne, 57, worked at Washington Episcopal for 17 years, starting as a fourth-grade teacher in 1997 and moving to the sixth grade in 2006, according to Wright. He also coached soccer, basketball and lacrosse at the school. He was a resident of Takoma in Washington, D.C.
Bethesda Magazine named Alleyne one of the area’s best teachers in 2011. Writer Amy Reinink wrote of Alleyne: “A tall man with a commanding baritone, Alleyne quizzes his sixth-graders about polygons withy the intensity of a drill sergeant. Students who hesitate are skipped over; those who are unprepared are rebuked; those who answer correctly are applauded. ‘She must be butter, because she’s on a roll!’ Alleyne says to one student.”
Wright wrote that Alleyne seemed to know everyone at alumni events through relationships fostered during students’ time at the school. Each year he led sixth-graders on a one-week study trip to the Southwest after the students completed a yearlong program that explored the idea of community .
“How lucky we are to have been able to spend these many years with him,” Wright wrote. “Let us take a moment to celebrate his life and reflect on the wonderful contributions he made as a teacher, mentor, and friend. I am sure I am not alone when I say, he will be dearly missed.”
Today the school plans to have teachers talk with students in morning meetings for grades 6 through 8. A funeral will be held in Philadelphia, where Alleyne’s mother and sister live, according to Wright. The school is planning to hold a memorial event later this year for the alumni community.
