Martha Gracey
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fter living and working for 18 years at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, Martha Gracey wondered if she would ever have the chance to return to her native Massachusetts. The opportunity presented itself when her husband, Ian, was named as Groton School’s director of admissions, giving Martha the chance to teach English and coach varsity field hockey and lacrosse here. “While all that I’m doing in the classroom, on the fields, and in the dorms is second nature to me after my years at L’ville, learning the culture of another school is intriguing and challenging. We have found the Groton community incredibly warm, outgoing, and helpful, as we begin our new careers and as our daughters adjust to new schools, new friends, and a new home.” During her tenure at Lawrenceville, Gracey was housemaster of both a boys house and a girls house, coached Varsity Field Hockey and all levels of Girls Lacrosse (winning numerous state and county titles in both sports), and served as the dean of students for 820 students during her final three years. What tells her that Groton School is a good fit for their family? “Just watching my eldest daughter, Katherine (a second former), make the transition to this place in a seamless manner, after having spent her whole life imagining herself at Lawrenceville, well, that speaks volumes about the community and the work of the School. The faculty has been wonderful to her; I am impressed with all that she’s
Martha and Ian Gracey
learning and able to do here. Likewise, my colleagues have helped me feel that I, too, belong.” Martha, Ian, and their daughters Katherine, Becca, and Lizzy, live in Nash Cottage along with Martha’s mother, Priscilla.
Suzy Joseph
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n June 4, 2005, Suzy Joseph thought she had retired from teaching. She left Phillips Academy in Andover after 25 years of service and moved to Biarritz, France, with her husband. For two years, she enjoyed her beautiful home country and its very special quality of life. Last spring, however, she surprised herself when she gladly accepted Groton’s invitation to come back to the States to replace Ms. Rebecca Stanton in the French Department for two terms. (Ms. Stanton is enjoying a sabbatical in Paris during the 2007-2008 academic year.)
Suzy is a Fullbright Scholar and a recipient of the French Palmes Academiques. She holds a licence d’anglais from La Sorbonne, Paris, and a M.A. in French from Indiana University. She taught at Oberlin College, Indiana University, DePauw University, Choate Rosemary Hall, and Milton Academy before Andover, where she was also a dorm head, a tennis coach, and especially involved in the community service program. Suzy is very grateful and excited at the prospect of getting back to teaching motivated and talented young men and women. She intends to inspire her students and to keep them excited about the French language, culture and literature.
Sarah Mongan
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arah graduated from Bates College in 1999 with a degree in history. She began her teaching career in outdoor education, working first with middle school students at Boston University’s Sargent Center in Hancock, New Hampshire. She then moved to Leadville, Colorado, where she taught at the High Mountain Institute’s Rocky Mountain Semester, a program for high school students that combines a college-prep curriculum with a NOLS-based expedition curriculum. Eager to continue in the education field but growing weary of the physical demands and instability of outdoor education, Sarah took a position at Dublin School in Dublin, New Hampshire, where she worked for five years as a teacher, coach, and dorm parent. Sarah spent last year in New York City pursuing a master’s degree in educational leadership at Teachers College. She joins Groton to Vaughn Winchell
then fled to Manhattan, enrolled at New York University’s Graduate School of Film and Television, and married Martha. He taught at NYU briefly and made a living as an independent producer for a number of years before returning to education. At Lawrenceville, Ian worked hard to increase the school’s presence in the South, served as the liasion to the arts and athletic departments, and put his visual sensibilities to the test in videos, publications, and websites for the Admission Office. Ian and his wife, Martha, his three daughters, Katherine ’12, Becca, and Lizzy, his mother-inlaw, Priscilla Furgal, all fit in Nash Cottage when they are not at their summer home on Orr’s Island in Maine.
Vaughn Winchell
New Faculty Profiles
Suzy Joseph, John Nagler ’03, and Sarah Mongan
Quarterly February 2008
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