Lindsay Lee is in her first year as a member of the Student Support Team at Moravian Academy. She will be working at the Upper School as a counselor. 

Let's get to know Ms. Lee.

Where did you grow up and where did you go to college/university?
I was born in Philadelphia, but my family moved away when I was young. From ages 4 - 11, we lived outside of Washington, D.C. in Silver Spring, MD, and then for Middle and High school, we lived in Southern California. Since I didn't live in one place for longer than another, I still claim Philadelphia as my hometown.

For my undergraduate degree, I studied at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, then went on to a Higher Diploma in Psychology from Trinity College, Dublin, before finally getting my Master's in Social Work at Tulane University.

Where were you before Moravian Academy, and what brought you here?
For the last two years, I lived in Denver and worked as the Project Manager for the Restorative Justice Partnership (a coalition of racial justice, education, labor, and community groups working to ensure widespread and high-quality implementation of restorative justice in schools). Before accepting that position, I was a school social worker in New Orleans and the Director of Military and Restorative Programs with Project Fleur-de-lis. With the end of our grant funding for the Restorative Justice Partnership, I decided to step back into a school community rather than working at the district/educational consultant level. Moravian Academy's history, culture, and educational philosophy made it feel like the right place to land.

Why did you choose education/counseling as your profession? 
I’ve always had an interest in helping people and understanding the way systems work. Social work as a discipline combines a focus on the individual with an eye towards improving and adapting systems that aren’t functioning as they are meant to. I started my career as a child advocate and found that working with young people was my calling. After trying out a few different specialties, I found my home in education and have spent the last 10 years serving in different roles to support the mental health, trauma recovery, and improvement of school culture within a variety of educational communities. 

What do you hope to provide to students, and what do you hope they take away?
I hope to provide a calm, welcoming, and supportive environment for our young people to feel comfortable challenging themselves, pursuing personal growth, and caring for the community. I want them to take away new strategies for engaging with the world, and each other, that foster courage, curiosity, and empathy.

What do you value about the home/school partnership?
I value collaboration, mutual respect, and shared responsibility. The home/school partnership allows all voices to be heard in decision making and center the interests of the whole community. 

What's something we don’t know about you?
As a personal goal, I aim to keep the number of countries I’ve been to above my age. I was fortunate enough to add Brazil to that list at the beginning of 2020.