A Year in Review: 2022-2023 

From on the court, to in the classroom, to in an office, Dr. Jennifer Amos has always loved “the relationships (she) was able to build.” Fresh out of college and married, Dr. Amos started coaching college basketball for women just a few years younger than her, but what she enjoyed most about coaching wasn't basketball. 

The search for a job that allowed her to build connections led Dr. Amos to become an English teacher, where she found her love for helping students express themselves and finding the next step in their lives. Her organization skills lended well to the administrative degree she worked to get, all the while running clubs and coaching sports. 

Once an administrator, Dr. Amos was drawn to high schools specifically “to help high school students figure out what they want to do.” Not only that but high schools help foster relationships, which she identified as the most important aspect of school. Part of the school experience is “learning to be a good human” and “feeling accepted as a part of a real community.”

Before Dr. Amos can help grow our community, she plans to learn about it and all the “great things that are happening at Fox Lane.” Starting next year, she plans to meet with students to learn what is going well and what needs to be improved. She thinks it’s important for students to not only have a core friend group but feel a part of a bigger community.

Dr. Amos goes on to explain that when balancing the needs of students, teachers and administrators with the wants of parents that she tries to find the flexibility. Most of the time she finds the needs of all those groups are parallel but when they aren’t it is her job to get creative. She says that in education “they’re the things that you have to do, but there’s not always a clear direction as to how you have to do those.” That is where solutions that work for everyone are found.

For the last four years Dr. Amos has called the United Nations International School her home in her position of Chief Academic Officer. One of the most interesting things about her time there was the ability of the students “communicate with others in the language that is not their first,” something she says helps more global thinking. Dr. Amos, despite only speaking English, loves to travel and learn from other cultures, one of her key takeaways from her time at UNIS. She also hopes to bring the sustainability she practiced there to Fox Lane, working with current groups such as the Green Team to help prevent harm to the planet.