Stephen Thompson

By Caroline Plunkett

English Teacher Stephen Thompson will depart from the school after six years to teach at JSerra Catholic High School in Orange County.

Thompson said he is leaving the school to live in the same area as his wife’s family.

“I’m excited for the chance to be closer to my in-laws and for my kids to grow up around their aunts and uncles,” Thompson said. “The commute from where we live now [to Orange County] is pretty long and so we don’t get to see them that often now.”

Thompson currently teaches AP Language and Composition: Utopias and Dystopias for seniors and Honors English III for juniors. Thompson said one of the most rewarding parts of his job is working with intellectually curious students.

“A student and I were reading Crime and Punishment [in a reading group] together, and we just had this big discussion about philosophy and materialism and the big questions of life,” Thompson said. “That’s the sort of thing I’m going to miss about this place. ”

Senior Prefect Rowan Jen ’23 said he has been a part of Thompson’s book club for the past two years and loves that literature serves as a jumping-off point for the group to discuss other ideas.

“We’ll debate, ask questions, go off on tangents about faith, love and meaning,” Jen said. “He’s way more than a teacher. He’s a mentor and a friend. Dr. Thompson has done so much for this community, and I’m sad to see him go.”

Ryan Pinsker ’23, a student in Thompson’s AP Language and Composition: Utopias and Dystopias class, said Thompson has had a great impact on the school community.

“Dr. Thompson is hands-down the greatest English teacher I’ve ever had,” Pinsker said. “He’ll be greatly missed. I think I speak for all his students when I say he made a mark on all of our lives.”