TA News

TA is excited to announce the hire of six new faculty members who have joined our school community for the 2019-2020 school year. Please join us in welcoming these talented educators to Thetford Academy:

Susan Essex Luce, who taught at South Burlington High School from 2011 to 2019, joins TA as our English Language Learning teacher and International Student Program coordinator. Susan has also worked with English language learners in Austria, taught German, Latin, and Spanish at the middle and high school levels, and worked in the field of international student travel.

Abby MacGregor teaches creative writing in TA’s English department and assists with the Thetford Outdoor Program (TOP). A graduate of Bucknell University, Abby also holds a master’s of fine arts from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She has served as an editorial intern at the Massachusetts Review and as a Teaching Associate at UMass Amherst. An avid writer, she earned the first place Cadigan Prize for Younger Writers in Poetry in both 2015 and 2016.

Betsy Pond joins TA’s social studies department to teach U.S. History and World History. For the last five years, Betsy taught history Oxbow High School. Prior to her work at Oxbow, she served as a paraprofessional at Thetford Academy and at Bozeman High School in Montana, where she completed her bachelor’s in history at Montana State University.

Sara Rose joins TA’s Science department, teaching both middle and high school Science courses. Sara holds a bachelor’s in science from New England College and masters’ degrees from both Southern Connecticut State College and Plymouth State University. From 2009 to 2019, Sara taught science in the Rivendell Interstate School District. She has also taught in schools in Nebraska, Alaska, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and New Hampshire.

Hannah Sobel joins TA’s World Languages department to teach introductory French. Hannah is an Upper Valley native from Hanover, NH. Hannah attended Middlebury College, where she earned her bachelor of arts in Chinese Language and Literature in May 2018. Hannah is currently pursuing her masters in teaching at the Upper Valley Educators Institute, where she plans to complete the program in June 2021.

Seth Whitaker, a Health Science and Education graduate of Northern Vermont University, joins TA’s Physical Education department this year. Seth completed his student teaching at Oxbow High School, where he taught PE and adaptive PE classes. Seth is also 2015 graduate of Thetford Academy and has supported TA for many years as a substitute teacher. Most recently, Seth worked as an educator for Cedar Circle Farm’s summer camp programs.

And, in case you missed it, TA has also welcomed a new Head of School, Carrie Brennan, this year! Read more about Ms. Brennan.