Before coming to Hackley, Learning Specialist Morgan Pile worked as a learning specialist at the Dalton School in New York City and ran her own academic firm. Ms. Pile urges students to reach out to her if they need any tips on how to improve their learning and study habits. Students can always email Ms. Pile to schedule a meeting or find her in Learning Center, where she has drop-in hours every morning from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
“I think that a lot of students can benefit from learning about the way that they learn about themselves, and this is a great role to help that happen, because you’re meeting one on one, which is sort of rare in an academic setting,” said Morgan Pile, Hackley’s new Learning Specialist. “I love that aspect of the job, being able to sort of help kids learn about themselves and become the best learners that they can be.”
Ms. Pile studied English at Bowdoin College and obtained a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from the New School a few years later. While receiving her Master’s, Ms. Pile started tutoring high school students and taught an SAT prep course at the Dalton School in Manhattan. Through this connection, she got a job at Dalton as a learning specialist, first in the Middle School and later in the Upper School, where she was part of a team of five learning specialists.
Following her time at Dalton, Ms. Pile ran her own company at an academic firm where she helped students similarly but independently of a school environment. She made the decision to leave her previous job and come to Hackley for both personal and professional reasons.
“I loved running my own company, and it was always an itch I wanted to scratch and kind of the goal of mine — I kind of come from an entrepreneurial family — but I found it somewhat isolating because I was working from home, and all of my colleagues were also working in different places, and it was mostly zoom and phone calls,” said Ms. Pile. While this allowed for freedom and flexibility, Ms. Pile missed the community that a school environment brings.
Additionally, she found that the hours she was working made it more challenging to spend time with her family, as she’d work afternoons and weekends. Hackley happened to be close to where Ms. Pile was moving and had a job opening in the middle of the year, allowing Ms. Pile to take on the new role.“I’m really excited to get to know the students here. So far, they’ve been wonderful, extremely curious, and very academic. I’m excited to get to know the culture. It’s very different from what I’ve experienced working in Manhattan. It feels a little bit removed from the intense rat race mentality that I think I was a part of,” said Ms. Pile.She looks forward to settling into Hackley and learning how she can contribute to the learning support department.
Ms. Pile feels prepared to assist Hackley students in whatever way possible, especially through her previous experiences working with students. “I hope that I have the empathy that this role really requires,” said Ms. Pile. “I try to be consistent, organized, and thoughtful, but I’m sort of prepared to adapt to what the job requires. I’m happy that I’ve come here at this point in my life. I’ve done so many things in the past, and I’ve made mistakes, and I’ve learned quite a bit, so now I feel prepared to meet challenges as they come.”
The best times for a student to visit Ms. Pile are if they think there’s a specific area of their study skills or organization that they’d like to work on, or if there is an area where they are not performing at the level they would like to and want guidance on how to get there. According to Ms. Pile, students benefit from discussing their study habits and receiving advice. Ms. Pile wants to ensure that all students are comfortable going to the Learning Center (room G110) and scheduling a meeting if they need help.
“Don’t hesitate. I have drop-in hours, which are mornings, 8:00 a.m. through 9:00 a.m., every day of the week. But you can also just poke your head in, and I will happily schedule a meeting, or you can email me and schedule a meeting,” said Ms. Pile. “I’m a dog person, and that’s usually an easy way to start talking to me. Just bring up dogs.”
