By Keira Sullivan ’23
Amongst the many new faces around campus this fall is Upper School English teacher Caitlin Moriarty. This year, Ms. Moriarty is teaching three sections of English 4 and one section of English 5.
Ms. Moriarty grew up in Westborough, Mass., and attended Amherst College where she majored in English and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree. She also attended graduate school at Johns Hopkins University where earned her Master’s degree.
After graduating, Ms. Moriarty didn’t initially plan to go into teaching. She actually interviewed with various publishing companies, but none of them felt right. “I had to wear a suit to the interviews and that just wasn’t me,” she said. “I ended up deciding that I had admired my English teacher from senior year in high school. He was a good teacher, but it was the connections that he made with kids that made me think, ‘If I could do that, I should try.’”
Ms. Moriarty began her teaching career at the Pomfret School, so she is no stranger to New England independent schools. After Pomfret, she switched gears and moved to Bethesda, M.D., where she worked with the Montgomery County School System for more than 25 years in various capacities, including serving as a department chair and assistant principal. As someone with administrative experience, she is excited to bring that knowledge and understanding into the classroom to help enhance the experiences of her students. “Administrators work on things like climate, spirit, and the academic side of things,” she said. “I know that unless it comes all the way down to the classroom level, it won’t grow, so I hope I can bridge that gap.”
When reflecting on her transition from public school back to an independent school, Ms. Moriarty spoke of the many lessons she’s learned throughout her teaching career. “I spent a long time in a very large public school system where it can sometimes feel like you’re just a number,” she said. “From that experience, I grew enormously, and I think that I wouldn’t be as comfortable here or feel as capable if I hadn’t had all those experiences.”
Outside of teaching, Ms. Moriarty stays busy with her two children and many hobbies. She enjoys crafting through many different mediums, including constructing paper pop-up books, and she also collects toys. “I don’t collect all types of toys,” she said, “but there are some toys that I just think are really special in the way they’ve been engineered.” She also manages to fit personal fitness into her already busy schedule to achieve her goals of eventually backpacking Europe in her 60s and 70s.
Even though she is the assistant coach for the JV volleyball team this fall, Ms. Moriarty actually played field hockey and hopes that she can one day get involved with the team here at KO. Students have also reached out to her about advising the newly proposed ski club as well as working with the GSA.
We are so thrilled to welcome Ms. Moriarty to the KO community and can’t wait to see all the great things she’ll bring to campus!
