Meet George Stewart
Starting at an early age George Stewart began exploring Mexico and the rest of the Spanish-speaking world with his parents. With sojourns in the Dominican Republic, Spain, Mexico City and many other destinations in the Spanish-speaking world George and his brother accompanied their parents on their adventures related to their work at Dartmouth College. These experiences culminated in 1970 with a three year expedition where George’s family drove their Toyota Landcruiser from Hanover, NH to Tierra del Fuego and back. Following his intrepid parents to the end of the southern cone and back left him with not only a love for the Spanish language but also for cultural and geographical exploration, along with with a strong career interest in the Spanish-speaking world. Through these travel experiences George grew a fundamental sensitivity to the fact that there are many of ways of thinking, learning, living, and responding and while they may not be familiar, they may also be right.
After graduating from Bates College and then graduate school at Middlebury College and Columbia University, George started his career in education. An experienced teacher and administrator, George taught Spanish and History at the Harvard/Westlake School in Los Angeles where he also coached soccer (his favorite sport and a life-long passion). At Trinity-Pawling School in New York, in addition to teaching and coaching, he assumed the post of Director of Studies. In 1999, George and his family moved to Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts where he started a new role as Chair of the Language Department. In addition to his teaching, coaching, and administrative responsibilities, George also launched the school’s center for experiential learning where he created summer travel and student exchange programs for students at Middlesex and other surrounding schools.
Inspired to further pursue his work building experiential learning programs, George left the traditional school setting to be the Head of Product Innovation at EF, Education First, an international education company. After 8 years leading EF’s programming for European and Latin American Markets, George stepped into a position at the company as the founding Head of EF Academy where he launched new independent school campuses in New York and California. He led EF’s Academy division for 4 years, before moving to Monterrey (Mexico) to become the Head of School of the American School Foundation of Monterrey (ASFM).
George serves on several boards and has been a longtime trustee of the Trinity-Pawling School in New York. He is active in the Association for the Advancement of International Education (AAIE), serves on the Board of the American Schools of Mexico (ASOMEX) as well as continues as an advisor to the National Association of Independent schools (NAIS) in the U.S.
George’s educational path is a combination of the traditional and non-traditional. He spent many of his elementary school years in various Spanish-speaking schools in Mexico, Central and South America and yet his path to leadership positions has been in strong traditional schools in New England. If there is one lesson above all others that George takes away from his career journey is a core belief that all students can learn, all students can improve and that all successful schools must be committed to continuous improvement. As ASFM ventures deep into the 21st century, George is excited to help forge more personalized pathways for students. Students must feel empowered to personalize their learning and teachers must feel confident in their ability to be strong strategists in guiding students towards their goals. Learning is social and the best learning relationship is through a strong collaboration between students and teachers and school and parents.