Mahika Ralhan ’26
This school year, EA hired Thomas Cork as the new Stone Family Chair of the Upper School Science Department. In addition to serving as Chair, Cork will teach science classes, such as Environmental Science I.
Photo courtesy of twitter.com
Explaining the change in leadership, Head of School Dr. T.J. Locke says, “Mrs. [Grace] Limaye wanted to go back to the classroom full time, so we had to look for a department chair.”
Locke believes that Cork’s teaching background and experience aligns with EA’s curriculum, stating, “He’s a great science mind, and he really is thoughtful about how to teach science, and I think those two things together make him a great fit for EA. We’ve got really smart kids, great intellectualism, and yet we want it to be fun and engaging, so that they’re excited to learn. I think he believes in all that, so that’s a great fit with our school.”
Cork describes his previous experience, saying, “This is my eighteenth year in education. I started off in New York, I worked in both private and public schools, and most recently I was an assistant principal for science at a very large comprehensive high school.” Cork has also been a Math for America master teacher and has been involved in curricular development for chemistry in the past.
Simon Richter ’26, a student in Cork’s Environmental Science I class, believes Cork is a positive addition to the science department. He states, “Mr. Cork creates a safe and fun learning environment and I’m always excited to go to class. I specifically appreciate his help when catching up after missed class or missed school, he’s always diligent and helpful in that regard.”
In addition to teaching classes, one of Cork’s goals as Chair is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the new science curriculum, which was adopted during Limaye’s tenure. The department requires students from the Class of 2024 and beyond to take introductory semester courses in Biology, Chemistry, and Physics before taking an Honors or AP science course. EA has also added the requirement of a semester course in Environmental Science for the Class of 2026 and beyond.
“I think right now, we’re in a place where we’re looking at the semester sequence and all the advantages and disadvantages, and finding a way to navigate the tension between wanting to give students choice and also wanting to maximize the teaching,” Cork explains.
The science department frequently discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the new curriculum. Cheryl Cossel, Upper School science teacher, states, “We’re always talking about it. In part, as we’re seeing what students are choosing along their pathways and what is influencing those decisions. I think as we roll [the new curriculum] out, we’ve seen some of the bumps in the road. I don’t think until we’ve actually run the curriculum in its full incarnation, for example with the Environment Science I requirement, that we will really know what it looks like to then be able to examine it to see what we can do to improve upon it.”
Due to her experience in teaching the previous curriculum, Cossel sees the effects of the new curriculum on science at EA. As Cossel taught during the previous curriculum as well, she sees the ways in which the new curriculum has impacted science at EA. She says, “One of the things that I really like about [the new curriculum] is the ability for students to really start pursuing their interests a little bit earlier in the sequence than what they had the option to do before. And, we’re seeing a lot of students being able to start their science journey in a subject matter that interests them earlier than we think as well.” She continues, “I think that the ability to offer more electives to our students and fields that are maybe more modern or more interesting to their world will be a huge benefit, particularly as they’re becoming more and more specialized as they go off to their studies.”
These changes to the science curriculum have been a topic of controversy among the student body. Some students agree with Cossel that the introductory courses provide a foundation that later benefits them when taking more advanced science classes. Emma Anderson ‘26 says, “I think the intro level courses are helpful because they prepare students for honors and AP courses.”
However, other students dislike the new science curriculum’s addition of prerequisite level 1 courses. Michelle Jiang ’24 argues, “I wish that the science curriculum doesn’t require you to do Bio I, Chem I, and Physics I if you already have prior knowledge. I think people can take more of the APs later on in high school because a lot of people have to double up on science if they want to do all the AP sciences if they’re really interested.”
Cork has been considering the addition of more semester-long electives to the science curriculum but has found it difficult to reconcile the semester courses and the year-long AP courses. “We’re trying to find more spaces for environmental science electives,” he notes, “I think that’s one area in which we need more electives, but I think that we’ve got AP courses amid a lot of really brilliant and innovative semester courses, and so we kind of have this tension between our flexible system, the semester courses, and these AP courses that run for a full year, and I think that’s something that we’ve been discussing a lot as a department.”
Jordan Shanahan ’26 agrees with Cork’s approach to add more environmental science electives and feels he could be successful on this front. She states, “I’d like more environmental-based electives. Since Mr. Cork is an environmental science teacher, he could be helpful in creating them.”
Cork summarizes his goals for EA science, remarking, “My personal goals for my classroom in general are to make a science experience really engaging with students. Really begin with a student inquiry and a student idea, and help move student ideas to whatever is scientifically accepted.” He concludes, “I think, in general, I want to be sure that we’re using the brilliant minds in the [science] department in the best way possible.”