By Bryson Raquet

Photo courtesy of Katie Best.

The past year has been more than eventful here on the Collegiate campus. With a quarter of last year spent learning remotely and new COVID-19 restrictions now that we are on campus, there have been many new changes. Through all this, we’ve also welcomed new faculty who have helped our community thrive. One new educator that has become a part of the Upper School community in the past two years is Upper School Academic Services Chair Dr. Katie Best. 

As Upper School Academic Services Chair, Dr. Best works alongside Upper School Learning Specialist Helen Markiewicz in the Academic Services office in the Academic Commons. She began in the fall of 2019, replacing Dr. Todd Hanneman, who left Collegiate to move to the Netherlands to work at the International School of Amsterdam.

Dr. Best and Markiewicz work with students, teachers and parents to promote student learning. Dr. Best stated, “For those students with diagnosed learning differences, physical impairments, medical or psychological conditions, Academic Services coordinates a variety of academic accommodations. However, we work with any student who wants help with course content or study and organizational skills.” 

Dr. Best says the best part of her job is that she “gets to meet with students one-on-one or in small groups, and that allows me to really get to know my students. I also enjoy the fact that I am not just teaching one subject. While English is, of course, the subject that is most comfortable to me because of my background as an English teacher, I have worked hard to build my skills in other content areas.” In preparing for her role, Dr. Best observed classes, watched videos, and practiced to re-learn subjects like chemistry or algebra, which she hadn’t taken in many years. Yet she finds this challenge incredibly rewarding. “No two days are ever alike, so this job is definitely not boring!”

Dr. Best was born in New York but moved around often during her childhood. She has lived in Rhode Island, Richmond, and Maryland. She attended local grade school St. Michael’s for kindergarten through second grade. After second grade, Dr. Best moved to Maryland and stayed there through middle school. Right before her freshman year of high school, Dr. Best moved back to New York, where she would complete her high school career and where her family would live while she attended the University of Richmond (UR). While at UR, Dr. Best studied English and secondary education. She graduated from UR in 1992, but she was not done with school yet. In 2000, Dr. Best went back to school at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), receiving her masters degree in literature. After a few years, Dr. Best went back to school again, this time studying to receive her PhD. in 2015 in Special Education and Disability Policy.

While at UR, she completed her student teaching at Thomas Jefferson High School in the city of Richmond, where she would later get a full time job teaching English. She worked at Thomas Jefferson for five years until she was offered a job teaching English at Trinity Episcopal School. Dr. Best worked at Trinity from 1996 all the way until 2015. For her first few years at Trinity, she taught English classes, but in 2007 she started working in Trinity’s Academic Services department. She eventually transitioned into working in Academic Services full time, which was her motivation for her masters degree. Dr. Best stayed at Trinity for 19 years before she moved to St. Michael’s, where she worked for three years as the Director of Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. Dr. Best has a daughter and a son. Her daughter is a freshman at Collegiate and is new to campus this year. Dr. Best’s son is a junior across the river at Trinity.

Best and her family. Photo courtesy of Katie Best.

When asked what drew her attention to Collegiate and how she knew it was a good fit for her, Dr. Best answered, “I had worked in high school settings at TJ and Trinity, and then in a K-8 school, so I was really interested in being a part of a school serving students in JK-12. I was familiar with Collegiate after many years in Richmond, and one thing that stood out to me was Collegiate’s mission statement, which highlights diversity and inclusion. This is something that is really important to me. When I came to interview at Collegiate, I was so impressed with the teachers and administrators I met. Their commitment and passion were evident, and I was excited to become a part of this incredible learning community.”

As for first impressions last fall, Dr. Best said, “When I started at Collegiate, I was a bit overwhelmed by the size of the school. Not only is the campus large and spread out, making it a challenge to find where I needed to go, but there are many more students here than what I had experienced at any of my previous schools. Even today, I constantly see new faces, and I am still learning names of students and faculty alike! There is always a lot happening at Collegiate, and it was exciting to learn about the programs, activities, and courses.”

When asked how she felt going into this school year and how her job has changed due to COVID-19, Dr. Best replied, “I admit that I was a little apprehensive about returning to school this year, but I have been so impressed with the way Collegiate has made this a safe place to learn. It took some time to get used to wearing a mask all day, but now it seems pretty normal.” 

The Academic Services team had to change their schedule and procedures in order to meet with all of their students, especially since their space is limited, and they can only meet with a few students at a time. Dr. Best is “grateful for the 9 a.m. start time this year, because it gives us that 8-9 a.m. window to meet with students each day. I have really enjoyed seeing my 10th grade advisory twice each week and eating lunch with them. I do, however, miss the cafeteria and having the chance to interact with other teachers during the school day.”

I can speak on behalf of the entire Collegiate community when saying that we are grateful for all of the hard work that Dr. Best and the Academic services team does for us.