EAST GREENWICH – Rocky Hill School has appointed Meg Stowe as the school’s new director of innovation to coordinate and expand Rocky Hill’s curriculum and shape its new partnership with LearnLaunch, a national education-technology nonprofit based in Boston.
The appointment follows Rocky Hill’s establishment earlier this year of its Innovation Center, an initiative developed in collaboration with LearnLaunch to serve as an incubator for educational-technology companies and create opportunities for students to engage with innovation, design thinking and entrepreneurship.
Under the guidance of Stowe and Rocky Hill’s Head of School James Tracy, the school hopes to provide a platform where entrepreneurs from LearnLaunch can partner with Rocky Hill educators and students to develop and test the next generation of digital classroom tools. Students will also have the opportunity to intern with LearnLaunch entrepreneurs.
“The creation of our new director of innovation position constitutes a clarion statement by Rocky Hill School of our commitment to leading as a premier center for education innovation and entrepreneurship,” said Tracy in a statement. “We are absolutely thrilled to hire an educator and entrepreneur of Meg Stowe’s caliber who brings such rich connectivity among thought leaders and influencers throughout the state of Rhode Island to the role.”
Beyond managing the school’s innovation partnerships, Stowe will also work with key education and business leaders in the state to share the opportunity with public schools and higher education and help build opportunities for Rhode Island to grow its ed-tech sector.
Stowe brings extensive training in education into her new role – with specific focus on integrated curriculum design, adolescent development and leadership – as well as her experience as a business owner and social entrepreneur.
Stowe earned her undergraduate degree from Denison University and holds a master’s degree in education from Lesley University. She has taught, coached and advised students in public, charter and independent schools, and has also designed and delivered workshops and trainings for teachers and students in Florida, Rhode Island and Massachusetts related to adolescence, brain development, education and leadership.
As a social entrepreneur, Stowe has served as the founder and executive director of the Girls Leadership Collaborative, a site-based leadership development program that empowers girls and provides support for educators and parents to do the same. The Girls Leadership Collaborative has participated in the Social Enterprise Greenhouse accelerator in Providence, and was also chosen to compete in the New England Innovation Awards for 2017 at Bentley University.
“I am extremely excited to begin this venture at Rocky Hill School with a talented team of educators and administrators,” said Stowe of her new position. “We will uncover how schools can leverage the phenomena and processes integral of innovation for the benefit of students, their communities and the world. This will require integration with entities outside the domain of education. It is there that we will find the intersection of education and innovation and develop the skills students will need to be part of a future workforce yet to be imagined.”
Kaylen Auer is a PBN contributing writer.
