When Alexis Reyes, the new dean of academics, got the call from Head of Upper School Mrs. Alex Spencer to move up to the high school, she began “jumping up and down.”
Initially an eighth-grade U.S. history teacher, Mrs. Reyes was given the opportunity to fill the new position of dean of academics and teach world history in the Upper School.
She said while she reveres the Middle School, she was ready to go back to teaching Upper School students.
“It was the right moment to come into the Upper School,” she said.
As dean of academics, she will mostly focus on policies and procedures that contribute to good teaching and learning in the classroom, and provide for the general success of academics in the Upper School.
“Really, my job as the director of academics is like a teacher-coach and helper for the chairs and faculty members to help them best do their jobs in the classroom,” she said.
Mrs. Reyes isn’t the only one excited about her new spot in the Upper School. Mrs. Spencer elaborated on her value as an administrator.
“She has been very useful in norming what the incoming ninth-grade students know from middle school so that the ninth-grade teachers can really just meet them where they are,” Mrs. Spencer said. “She is also just incredibly organized and productive, and she can take a project and just run with it.”
Mrs. Reyes has more than an administrative role in the Upper School. She will also teach a world history honors class for freshmen. She said she does not find it difficult to balance the two responsibilities.
“That’s kind of the part of the job that appealed to me because as much as I wanted to be in the curriculum as an administrator, I still loved being able to work in the classroom with students, and I love that this job let me do both,” she said.
