Stephanie Hall Joins Middle School Faculty

Walk into Stephanie Hall’s sunny classroom at the top of Ware Hall, and you’ll find an atmosphere geared toward students who are neither in elementary school nor high school, but in their own special place: Dotting the walls are bright bullet points on parts of speech and posters featuring other pointers on writing and grammar. On the opposite wall, drawings from characters in Elizabethan drama are coupled with quotes from Shakespeare and Seamus Heaney. Vibrant colors and cerebral witticisms combine to target the minds of Middle School students with a just-right mix of sophistication and fun.

“I am impressed by her energy, wit and rigor,” says Middle School Principal Mark Stanek. “Stephanie uses a variety of teaching styles to engage her students in challenging discussions. She’s able to balance academic challenge, study skills, support and guidance,” Mark says.
Stephanie says that her mission is to find the most effective methods for teaching this age group. “I love teaching them,” she says. “Orally, they are very accomplished. They are certain of their views and able to express them. They also ask a lot of questions.

“Students this age still have a certain innocence; they’re honest. They are figuring out who they are. They are a fun and challenging age emotionally, physically and individually. They are at very different levels—yet beginning to grasp very sophisticated concepts. They can become engaged so readily and enthusiastically,” Stephanie says.

“My approach is one of flexibility. I’m figuring out what their level of comfort and interest is in various areas: You work on fundamentals such as the five-paragraph essay, but I believe that material becomes more compelling when you find a way to incorporate the arts.

“Getting across to the whole class can be challenging—you have to work at it continually to find each student’s strength, even if their strengths and interests don’t necessarily match up with yours as a teacher. You have to be willing to take risks,” Stephanie says.

Among the literature Middle School students will read and reflect on this year are The Odyssey, Black Boy, Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird. Stephanie says that poetry is “her thing” and she looks forward to developing an appreciation—if not love—of it in her students.
A Native of Scotland and Ireland, Stephanie began her teaching career teaching English as a second language in Romania. She also taught at a girls’ school in Edinburgh and, most recently, at a private school in Worcester, Massachusetts. At Milton, she teaches two sections of eighth grade and one of seventh grade. She and Kim Walker (English) are the first dedicated faculty of the newly distinct Middle School.