After five months of being out on maternity leave, math teacher Stephanie Davis returned to Morgan last week, April 21, with a new plan for the following school year.

Mrs. Davis gave birth to her second child, Emma, in early December. She has been out for most of the school year, but returned after April break. Davis pointed out how thoughtful it was when many people emailed her while out on leave and “this past week, so many people came by just to say hello.” For Davis, it was a bittersweet moment of being back, while also missing her kids at home.

Leaving her 4-year-old Eloise and 4-month-old Emma is very tough on her. “Being a mom is the best, and having to leave them is very hard. I am looking forward to summer,” says Mrs. Davis. Her favorite thing about being on leave was being able to go out with her girls, such as going to the library or playground. She was also able to visit her sisters who live an hour and a half away, something that is typically tough for her. Overall, Mrs. Davis misses how much time she got to spend with her family.

Even though she will miss home, Mrs. Davis loves teaching, and her passion for it started in her early college years. Because of this, she would like to stay at Morgan, but also be able to take care of her kids.

In the fall, she will be staying at Morgan, but will only be there part-time. She doesn’t know of any other teachers at Morgan who do this, so this is very new to her. Her plan is to come in around 10:30 am every day and teach for the remainder of the school day. Her youngest daughter, Emma, was born with down syndrome and Davis wants to have more flexibility in her schedule to support her. However, because she can work part-time, she will also be able to continue to run Spirit Squad, telling Paw Print that plans for homecoming are already underway.

For Davis, a strong enthusiasm for teaching started in her freshman year of college at Middlesex Community College. Her original plan was to major in math and work for her uncle’s investment real estate. “I was always good at math, it came easily to me,” she described.

But then, her math teacher at Middlesex, Professor Boucher, completely changed her mind. As a kid, he had a stroke, leaving his left side paralyzed. Mrs. Davis remembers that he would always show up to class with enthusiasm for teaching. He became an inspiration to Mrs. Davis, as he “made me want to help kids enjoy math and school the way he did for me,” she said.

8 years later, Mrs. Davis ran into him while teaching part-time at Middlesex. “I was so glad I got to tell him that, many years after I had graduated from college.”

Her favorite part of teaching is the students, she said. She loves building relationships with them throughout the year and then seeing them even after they’re her students and when they come to visit. And she is not ready to give that up.

When Mrs. Davis isn’t teaching, she loves spending time with her family: her husband and kids, but also her sisters and brother. Some of her hobbies include her love for gardening, hiking, crocheting, anything crafty. As a fun creative outlet for her, Mrs. Davis is a wedding planner, and if she wasn’t a teacher she would fully pursue that career.

She is looking forward to being able to live the best of both worlds for the 2025-2026 school year.

Sophomore Libby Burns who had her as a teacher last year says that “Mrs. Davis is one of my favorite teachers at the school, her constant enthusiasm and passion to teach has made me start to love math.”