Juliette Rorie

Juliette Rorie is an Alternative Choices in Education (ACE) social studies teacher moving into her fifth year in the field. With a teaching background based in Boston, she is coming to teach in Brookline for the first time. Besides teaching, Rorie enjoys attending concerts and cooking.

Was there anything you were nervous about before you started this year?

Oh, for sure! It’s a huge school. I have taught for a while, but all the schools I have taught at were fairly small. To come here, there were over 2000, that was definitely nerve-wracking. I was also, to be real, nervous about if I am a good enough teacher to teach at Brookline High and if I am going to make the cut. I think that was definitely weighing on my mind.

How was the transition between your old school and the high school?

I thought that it was going to be be a little tougher, but it really felt like I never stopped. I feel like there’s never a break and that you just kind of jump right back into it. I think one of the biggest transitions is the schedule because it’s always changing. Another thing with small schools is that our schedules are really basic, so I had the same schedule every single day. It’s literally different every single day here, so that’s been a little hard to keep on track of. I’m trying to get out of the ACE corner and see everybody else and talk to people and meet more people.

What was your high school experience like?

I had a really great high school experience. I went to Fenway High in Boston, which is a pilot school. It has smaller classrooms and longer blocks, like ACE does. I got to travel and learn a lot about myself and learn different things in different ways. I started off at O’Bryant, which is a bigger, more traditional school, and I just wasn’t able to do well there. I couldn’t find people that supported me, constantly moving and changing groups and classes. I wasn’t used to it so I didn’t do really well there. So, I switched my setting a little bit and was able to do so much better. So I am kind of a product of alternative thinking in terms of education. I still love Fenway. I go back all the time to visit and I got to co-teach with my favorite teacher when I was in high school last year, which was really cool. I did feel like a super grown up around my teachers.

Is there anything you like to do in your free time?

I have a nine-year-old son, so he takes up a lot of my time. His name is Julian and he’s great! We do all sorts of outdoor things together. I also love to cook, so we make lots of meals together. I love going to concerts and live shows. I really love music, and I like live music and that experience of concerts and shows. I went to one just before school started, which maybe wasn’t the best choice, because I was very tired the next day. I try to keep those things in my life to make sure that I do things that make me happy.