[5] In 1920, she told her students: It is our playtime that should net us re-creation, enthusiasm for work, joy for living, ever-widening fields for thought, deeper thrillings of the soul, reverence, and an ever growing consciousness and comprehension of truth and beauty and law.

A group of male principals protested Ernst's appointment to the position, believing as one said, that the promotion of a woman as superintendent "would tend to disrupt the school system".

While assistant to the Superintendent of Instruction she advocated for the reform of the Board of Education, to improve retention of students in high schools and to create a pension plan for retired teachers.

[2] The Potters described themselves as "idolatrous females worshipping a yellow-haired Amazon;" they called their mentor Ernst a "blond brute...the star of our existence."

The Potters included poet Sara Teasdale (1884–1933) [8] who dedicated a sonnet to Ernst which begins:To L.R.E.When I first saw you – felt you take my handI could not speak for happiness.

[a] On Ernst's demeanor, Williame Drake wrote in 1989: Formidable in her starched shirt-waists and gold-rimmed glasses, intensity of purpose, and ceaseless application to hard work.

[9]She was close to Leonora Halsted, author and fellow member of the Humanity Club, who, dying in 1929, left $20,000 to Ernst in "appreciation of her devoted care ... and my abiding love".