Megan Fairchild, ICALP, returned to the DVFriends campus this fall as the school’s Director of Teaching and Learning. She joined DVFriends in 2014, teaching in all three divisions before spending three years as a Literacy Specialist at The Gateway School of New York. While in New York, Megan continued to serve as DV’s Director of Teacher Training and each summer led the school’s IMSLEC-accredited Adolescent Literacy Training Program. Her experience in training teachers and educating students who learn differently across a full range of grades makes her uniquely qualified to take on the role of Director of Teaching and Learning.
Megan holds a BA in English from Bryn Mawr College and an MS in Special Education from Saint Joseph's University, in addition to certifications in multisensory structured language instruction and dyslexia intervention from the Academic Language Therapy Association (CALP/ICALP), International Dyslexia Association (CDP), Center for Effective Reading Instruction (SLDI), and Wilson Reading System (WDP). Megan is also a licensed teacher in Pennsylvania for Elementary K-6, Mid-Level English 6-9, and Special Education PK-8.
As the Director of Teaching and Learning, Megan provides academic leadership ensuring the implementation of evidence-based educational practices in all classrooms. She supports the teachers and guides them in the process of continuing to develop their expertise by observing classes, leading professional development workshops, monitoring assessment and student progress, developing curricula, and serving on both the Student Support and Educational Administration teams. This work helps DVFriends deliver the most effective instruction for its student population while staying up-to-date on best practices in the field.
This fall, Megan is working closely with the Language Arts and English departments around the school’s writing program while teaching a writing-intensive Senior Seminar course for 12th graders. Megan continues to lead DVFriends’ IMSLEC-accredited teacher training program, which just wrapped up its reaccreditation self-study.
“I am absolutely thrilled to return to DVFriends as the Director of Teaching and Learning,” Megan shared. “It never felt like I was truly gone, but I am enjoying getting to know all of the teachers and students who joined the community in the past few years and seeing the many tremendous ways that DV has grown.”
“We are exceptionally fortunate to have Megan Fairchild return to DV as our Director of Teaching and Learning,” commented Head of School Kirk Smothers. “Nobody understands our students as learners better than Megan and she is brilliant at implementing best practices in teaching students who learn differently. Megan is loved by students and respected by her colleagues. I am looking forward to the many ways that she will help our wonderful school and program become even stronger.”