By Emily Merchant

Lower School teacher Lauren Brown, who has taught third grade and kindergarten, will be retiring this school year. Out of her 22 years of teaching, 18 of them have been spent teaching at Collegiate, and even after she leaves she plans on continuing to work with children academically.

Lower School teacher Lauren Brown. Photo credit: Collegiate School.

Brown grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and after graduating high school from The Shipley School, she went on to study Early Childhood Education at the University of Richmond (UR). She said she knew “whatever I did would center around children.” She had originally thought she would become a pediatrician, completing an internship in the child psychiatry department at a hospital. But after taking biochemistry, Brown decided that it wouldn’t be the best fit. She said, “I realized I felt most fulfilled as a teacher.”

Her interest in teaching stemmed from her experience with her own teacher in fourth grade. She shared that the teacher was “perfectly terrible” and would “ask kids ‘Why don’t you understand?’ when we asked for help in math.” After experiencing this, Brown said she made a promise to herself that she would “never make a child feel stupid or uncomfortable asking for support.”

After graduating from UR in 1987, she went on to teach kindergarten in Chesterfield County. Four years later, her favorite professor at the University of Richmond, Dr. Jill Hunter, had left the university to become the head of the Collegiate Lower School and encouraged Brown to come for an interview. Seeing “small class sizes, wonderful facilities, and happy teachers and students,” Brown was hooked.

Five years later, she decided to take some time away, staying home to raise her four kids—Graham, Mason (‘13), Olivia (‘17), and Bo (‘21)—for the next 12 years. She returned to Collegiate and began teaching third grade in 2008, when Bo started kindergarten.

Brown made the tough decision that this would be her final year teaching after last year when her husband, Dr. Jeff Brown, a vascular surgeon, had a terrible battle with COVID-19. When they almost lost him, she saw how short and valuable life really was, and while she loved teaching and spending time with her students, she realized “it was time to focus on my family and have more flexibility to see my daughter in Memphis, my son in Wyoming, my other daughter in NYC, and hopefully watch Bo play some lacrosse at UR.” 

Brown and fellow Kindergarten teachers in an old Torch photo. Photo credit: Collegiate School Archives/Ben Lamb.

Rather than saying she’s retiring, Brown prefers to say, “I am ‘graduating with Bo’ because I feel like saying I am ‘retiring’ makes me sound ancient and creaky.” So, after she “graduates from Collegiate” she hopes to continue to better appreciate the little things in life.

When asked what she would miss most about Collegiate, she said, “Hands down, the people!” She also added, “I imagine everyone who retires from Collegiate says this… The students, their families, the staff, and, of course, outstanding colleagues from whom I am continuously learning and forever inspired by.”

As far as what Brown plans on doing after she leaves, she says, “I hope to volunteer at Anna Julia Cooper School in Richmond’s East End.” She also plans on being a mentor at Higher Achievement, an academic support program for middle school students, and visiting all four of her kids around the country. One of the most important things she said she planned on doing was to, “finally train my lab to ‘Come’ and ‘Stay.’ I am a softy dog-mom; I need to toughen up!”

A couple of Brown’s fondest moments from her time at Collegiate include, “the Collegiate traditions: Convocation, Pep Rally, VGF, Concert of Carols, Colonial Day, and Mother’s Day teas.” Another one of her favorite moments is when “I am a Promise” is sung, and Brown admits that she has to mouth the words because she will cry if she tries to sing them out loud.

However, Brown says her favorite memory would have to be “seeing my Kindergarten class in attendance as I walked down the aisle during our wedding in March of 1992… Now I get to go to their weddings—full circle.”

Brown’s 2020 Torch yearbook picture. Photo credit: Collegiate School Archives/Ben Lamb.

Some advice she would like to leave for students is that, “What you think matters, what you say matters, what you do matters, and you matter! Try to be kind to yourself and learn to laugh at yourself. You define what success means—not a report card, or two lines from a college admissions reply letter. Although it feels like these Collegiate years are your whole life, it is a small piece of the pie.”

A few of her students from previous years commented on what their experience was having Brown as a teacher, with all of them being overwhelmingly positive. Former student Henry S. (‘29) said, “Mrs. Brown is an amazing third grade teacher, and she is very nice, and she used to call us ‘Smart Cookies.'” 

Another former student of hers, Harry Shaia (‘22) simply said, “Mrs. Brown was a great third grade teacher.” 

Natalie Ford (‘22) commented, “Mrs. Brown does an amazing job of connecting with us kids, and I can only remember positive things when I look back on my time as her student!”

When asked what his time having Mrs. Brown was like, Beckett Foster (‘21) shared, “With Mrs. Brown, it was always about the small things. I’m sure she did a lot of huge things that had an unknown impact on me. However, the small things, like the weekly treat as we left for a weekend, are what shaped my experiences with her.”

Upper School English teacher and Match advisor Vlastik Svab shared, “I feel very fortunate that my son had Mrs. Brown for third grade. He loved her class, and she persevered to make the spring 2020 remote learning experience meaningful and fun for her class, even when she was dealing with her husband being ill. Her retirement is a great loss to Collegiate, but I wish her all the best.”

Director of Lower School Admission LaNessa West said, “I’ve known Lauren Brown for a long time! I taught her daughter Olivia when she was in Kindergarten, and she taught my son Nathan (’19) when he was in 2nd Grade. I know her as a parent, a teacher, a colleague and as a friend. Her dedication and support for her students is admirable, and the love she has for her family is strong! Lauren is one of the MOST organized teachers I’ve ever encountered!”