New to Montrose: Math Teacher Ms. Fickess

Credit: Ms. Fickess

Ms. Fickess and her dog, Paisley, in Narragansett RI.

“I actually found out about Montrose by a quick Google search,” Ms. Fickess admits. No matter how she found out about the school, we’re glad to have her as a math teacher who teaches many different classes. Already, students think of her as an energetic, optimistic teacher who is always ready to answer questions and willing to help students understand concepts better. Ms. Fickess came to Montrose this year as a new addition to the math department and is extremely excited about her role as a math teacher. “I realized how important math education is for getting women into STEM fields,” she explained, adding that she loved to help fellow students with their work before realizing that teaching is what she wanted to do. 

Ms. Fickess is originally from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but she moved out to Las Vegas, Nevada when she was young. She went to the Meadows School and joined the debate team, which she really enjoyed. She soon discovered her interest in learning Latin, Greek, and philosophy and found a general love of the liberal arts. She was able to continue studying these at Wellesley College, where she graduated in the class of 2020. While studying there, she came extremely close to becoming a classics major and has many great memories. “One of my favorite memories was the scream tunnel for the marathon,” she said. “We were right at the halfway mark, so we would all just go out and scream.” At Wellesley, she was able to combine her love for math with the liberal arts by writing a paper using calculus to discuss the rate of change in people’s stories based on the book Almost Touching the Skies. Along with all the good memories, Wellesley helped her realize that teaching is what she wanted to do because she loved helping others learn.

At home, Ms. Fickess is the proud owner of two dogs, Ciara and Paisley. Ciara is a newer addition to the family, while Paisley has been with her since her sophomore year of college, even living with her at her dorm. Her final college project, done while everyone was in quarantine, was building a remote-controlled ramp that would get balls out from under a couch. The dogs are a Chihuahua Dachshund mix (Paisley) and an Australian Shepherd Lab mix (Ciara). Anyone who asks Ms. Fickess about her dogs can tell how proud of them she is. 

Coming to Montrose, she was pleasantly surprised at both the curriculum and the people here. “I was excited to hear about a liberal arts program for high school,” she said, adding on how important she believed it was to education. “I’ve also never met any students who have asked me to give them extra work before,” she said. Already, Ms. Fickess’ energetic and positive approach to classes have made students enjoy learning with her. Montrose is lucky to have her as part of their faculty. 

 

Sophie Farr ‘25, Staff Writer

25sfarr@montroseschool.org