Chris Rappleye is the co-author (along with Tracey Tokuhama Espinosa and Jovi R.S. Nazareno) of Writing, Thinking and the Brain: How Neuroscience Can Improve Writing Instruction (2024, Teachers College Press). He has taught English at Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School since January of 1989, primarily in the Upper School, and has coached cross country and track and field for almost as long. He has consulted and presented for the ACT as well as for the College Board's Advanced Placement program in English Literature. 

Chris presently holds the Ethan A. H. Shepley '41 Chair of Distinguished Teaching in English and Composition and is the past recipient of the Eleanor Church Johnson Chair of Distinguished Teaching in English. He regularly presents to teachers about research on the brain and social-emotional learning. As an advisor to students in the Upper School and a mentor to fellow teachers, he builds relationships and ensures the growth of his school community. In addition to teaching 9th and 12th grade-levels in English currently, he has also taught AP English Literature & Composition, and designed and taught courses on Creative Writing, Graphic Novels, The Faust Tradition, Creativity, Myth, Math & Music (co-taught), and Bookmaking (co-taught). 

He holds an M.F.A. in Writing, and for the past several years, he has pursued an interests in Mind, Brain and Education Science research, Creativity, and Social and Emotional Learning.