Morgan grew up in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Vermont in elementary education, human development, and family studies. She taught Kindergarten at Shore Country Day School in Beverly, Massachusetts, for three years, then studied at Harvard Graduate School of Education for a master’s degree with a certificate of graduate study in guidance counseling. Morgan worked in Boston Public Schools for seven years as Coordinator of School Culture and Climate. She bravely moved to the Roaring Fork Valley in the midst of the pandemic in August 2020 to begin working at ACDS.
How did you land in Colorado?
After graduate school, I road tripped across the country with Amanda Palffy (a former ACDS Third Grade teacher ). We stopped a lot of places, and Aspen was our final destination. This was several years ago, and I tried coming back every year after. Aspen recharges and motivates here. I also realized it’s a place where I am always challenging myself, trying new things and adventures. So when the opportunity came up to live here and make it home, it was almost too good to be true.
Dream dinner party?
My sister, because she’s my best friend and an amazing cook, so she could make the dinner. Then my grandmother Lillian, who was a big role model in my life; I think about her every day. And Princess Diana. I always looked up to her and admired the work she did to help other people.
Favorite place on campus?
I like being in the Middle School hallway, greeting students when they come in the morning and as they leave at the end of the day, or during transitions between classes. It’s important to me that my role is one that’s visible, a resource and supportive to all students.
A teacher who had an influence on your life?
An advisor: John Glessner at The Pingree School, my high school. He was one of those guys who had a tough exterior and strong voice, and in the hallway he was intimidating to some, but once you got to know him, he always had your back. In reflecting now, I think he saw more in me than I even did at the time. He suggested I work at at summer program that helps inner city students apply to secondary schools outside their district. Looking back, I think, “Wow, he had that insight to know that would get into a helping profession.”
Most interesting job before this?
I worked on a whale watching boat out of Boston.
A challenge in the world and how this school helps address it?
Something I’ve noticed, and it was highlighted by the pandemic, is the lack of empathy that we have for one another. I heard recently that the quote “we are all in the same boat” could actually be “we’re all in the same storm, but we have different supplies and supports to weather it.” Some of us might be in a mega-yacht and some of us might be in a rowboat, but what matters is empathy for how someone else is doing. What I find is that students at Aspen Country Day School are always thinking to the next level. They seem have a more worldly lens as they approach their learning. It’s impressive; it helps build and strengthen that lens of empathy.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
An interior decorator. I used to decorate the inside of my dollhouse with different wallpaper, which made my mom crazy. Or a teacher. I had a little chalkboard I would play on.
