Passionate educator Rachel White-Hunt has been teaching for more than 17 years. The exploration and development of all areas of school life and the school community is what drives her.
"I believe strongly in the importance of developing all elements of our students, our teachers and the school community in a way that is unique to each of us as well as the community as a whole," Ms White-Hunt said.
As Assistant Head of Lower Secondary, Ms White-Hunt sees a special part of the students' school life. She feels passionately about how we support each students' unique identity and learning journey.
"I teach predominantly middle and upper school to IB but have taught from nursery to IB in the past, teaching Performing Arts, Art and Science."
Before becoming Assistant Head of Lower Secondary, Ms White-Hunt was Director of Performing Arts. In that role, Ms White-Hunt worked closely with Juilliard and NAE as a top advisor in the development of new curricula and assessments. She also led a global team of Performing Arts leads, and she developed and delivered Performing Arts professional development for NAE teachers around the world. She was also Director of Performing Arts at our sister school in Chicago for nine years and head of music at a local London school before that.
She holds a bachelor's degree in performance arts from Leeds University. She spent a year in both the jazz and classical programs at the University of North Texas while working on her degree. She then completed her PGCE at Roehampton University and became a music teacher, which began her career in education.
Ms White-Hunt is a professional clarinettist and saxophonist. After many years of teaching music, she can get a sound out of many instruments.
"My interest in education and how we learn has led me to undertake a research project about the neurological elements of learning, especially within the lower secondary age range," Ms White-Hunt explained. "I'm also a keen runner and have completed the Chicago Marathon and many half marathons here in DC."