At Chrysalis, the academic program is committed to offering a high quality education that connects with each student's individual academic and therapeutic needs. This goal is met through offering personalized support in small, teacher-led classes in a warm and caring classroom environment designed to both support and challenge students. Chrysalis is proud of each of the members of the academic team and would like to focus the spotlight on Krysten Fitzsimmons, the English and College Prep teacher.
Krysten is from Oregon and attended college in Montana. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in English teaching, and is currently working on her Master's Degree in Special Education. When not teaching school or attending school, Krysten is active in the local community theater, and enjoys all the outdoor activities that living in northwest Montana affords with its mountains, rivers and lakes. Krysten is accompanied on these adventures by her fiance, Jeremy and canine sidekick, Ruger.
Krysten finds the Chrysalis academic program to be unique in that it addresses each student where she is, as opposed to just adopting the prescription a larger school may assign them to. She describes one her favorite aspects of teaching at Chrysalis as the satisfaction of watching one of her students graduate from high school, when just months earlier at the beginning of their Chrysalis journey they had felt that would never be achievable for them.
When asked why she loves teaching English, Krysten replied. "Reading and writing, that's what life is all about. I get to help my students find a way to learn this in a way that's personal to them."
About Chrysalis School
Chrysalis is a small therapeutic boarding school for girls ages 13-18, located in Montana. Our mission is to provide the best quality therapeutic services, education and experiential opportunities to adolescents and their families in the context of a warm and nurturing residential boarding school environment while maintaining a commitment to integrity in all that we do.