Katie Clarke, MEd

Currently serving as the STEM Department Head at Thurston Middle School in Westwood, MA, Katie brings more than 20 years of teaching and leading in public education to her work for AthenaK12. She began her career teaching middle school science in Needham where she was awarded the MASS TLC Leadership Award for Excellence in Teaching. The middle school was awarded a $10,000 grant that Katie used to design and build a Middle School Engineering Design Laboratory that explored the Middle School Engineering Design Curriculum she had authored. Katie then began to explore project-based learning, student-driven inquiry, and UbD. After ten years in Needham, Katie transitioned to independent consulting, where she started teaching graduate school courses in PBL, UbD, standards-based STEM curriculum development, and many other STEM, instructional and curricular programs. Katie was also the Director of the LIFT Program, a nonprofit organization that matched secondary STEM teachers with STEM companies where the teacher would work and learn during the summer. 

Katie has a passion for working with teachers who are passionate about student engagement and the student experience. She is called upon to write standards-based, hands-on, inquiry-driven curriculum units for all grade levels and subjects. Her specialty is in math and science and interdisciplinary middle school PBL units. 

Katie holds an undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Bridgewater State University, a Masters Degree in Science and Math Curriculum from Fitchburg State University, and a Masters in Engineering Education from Tufts University. She is a licensed middle school science teacher and a licensed Science Supervisor / Director.