Alex Myers has been named next director of the Mountain School of Milton Academy, effective July 1. The following is a message from Head of School Todd Bland announcing Myers’ appointment to the Milton community.
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I am excited to announce Alex Myers as the next director of the Mountain School of Milton Academy, effective July 1, 2022. A thoughtful search committee of faculty, staff, advisory board members and graduates of the Mountain School and Milton worked tirelessly throughout the school year to evaluate candidates from a broad national search. I have accepted the committee’s unanimous recommendation and am thrilled that Alex has chosen to join the Mountain School.
Alex is an English teacher, writer, and educator of students and adults. He has worked in high schools for 19 years, spending three years at the Community Schools of Naples, Florida, seven years at St. George’s School in Middletown, Rhode Island, and seven years at Phillips Exeter Academy. Alex currently serves as an English teacher, co-director for the center of teaching and learning, dorm head, and assembly program coordinator. At other points in his career, Alex has served as a writing center director and dorm parent while serving on numerous academic and other committees in educational settings.
Alex has conducted professional development work with educators over the years focused on issues related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice, with a particular emphasis on the LGBTQ+ community. During the summer, Alex co-leads the Summer Diversity Institute at Exeter, where he teaches a week-long series of courses on equity and inclusion covering topics such as race, sexuality, gender, and religion for teachers and administrators from a range of schools. Alex has presented on gender inclusion at conferences including the Association of Independent Schools of New England (AISNE), the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), and The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS). He has also worked with a number of schools—including Milton—around gender inclusion.
Alex is also an established writer. He is the author of several novels, nonfiction books, and essays. His works include the novel Revolutionary, a Lambda Literary Award finalist published by Simon & Schuster; The Symmetry of Stars, a novel published by Harper Collins; and Supporting Transgender Students, a guide for schools published by the University of New Orleans Press.
For all of the impressive reach of his work, what has emerged so powerfully in interviews with Alex and with people who know him well is how deeply and fully committed he is to the life and health of students, teachers, and schools. He is a “school person” at his core, finding as much joy in the hubbub of a dorm or the dynamics of the girls’ JV hockey team he has coached as in interrogating the pressing social and cultural issues that touch all institutions. In his cover letter, Alex expressed his great excitement about the prospect of leading the Mountain School in its “moment of transition, self-examination, and reimagination.” He also described his lifelong commitment to and engagement with land-based and experiential learning, from working summers as a wildlife interpreter for the US Forest Service, to conducting bird walks and canoe trips for the Massachusetts Audubon Society, to leading week-long backpacking orientation trips as head of the outing clubs in high school and college, to spending as much of his free time as possible hiking and tending trails in the White Mountains.
Alex received his undergraduate degree in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations from Harvard University. He holds three master’s degrees: an M.A. in religious studies with concentration in ancient Judaism from Brown University, an M.F.A. in fiction writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, and an M.A. in English from Georgetown University. Alex and his spouse, Ilona Tipp, and their two cats, Stella and Oberon, will relocate to Vershire, Vermont, in July.
I look forward to Alex joining the Mountain School of Milton Academy as its next director. Please extend a warm welcome to Alex as he joins our community.
Sincerely,
Todd B. Bland
Head of School
Milton Academy