Marissa Drossos

Special Education teacher Marissa Drossos is a devoted mother and passionate about activism and social justice. Drossos loves to garden and connect with her students in the classroom. In her free time, she enjoys reading, cooking, baking and spending time with her son.

Could you tell me a little bit about being a special education teacher?
I am in the special education department. I teach at a learning center, and I’m co-teaching in the English department and in chemistry classes, so I’m in a few different places, but all in 10th grade.

Did you always know that you wanted to be a teacher?
No, not at all. I did an internship working in a school and realized I really enjoyed working in the field of education. From there, I worked mostly in non-profits early in my career and ended up deciding that I wanted to be in a more traditional classroom setting.

Do you see some of your previous interests in your hobbies today?
I definitely see this in terms of my personal life; I try to be politically involved when I have time and take on activism activities when I can. Being a teacher helping young people is important work in the world to me. I also love gardening; I have a community garden plot in my neighborhood, and I love being outdoors. I have a 20-month-old son, so I spend a lot of time at parks and playgrounds.

Is there a specific area of activism that you’re really interested in?
Right now racial justice work is something I’m very interested in. I know that Brookline is taking a focus on equity with reading Just Mercy and discussions around that. Women’s and LGTBQ+ rights are also important to me. Last year, I tried to do work around the presidential election such as call banks and letter writing.

Is there anything at the high school that you love that your old school didn’t have?
I came from a very small charter school and we did great work but were limited by our space and resources, especially in special education. I love that Brookline has so many different programs and opportunities for students: the ACE program, School Within a School, and the amount of different clubs.

Is there anything that you would want people to know about you?
I’m excited to get to know students and teachers here. It’s a huge school in comparison to where I was, so I’m excited to be able to meet more people and get more involved over the course of the year.