We are excited to introduce Cotter Donnell, who has accepted the position of Associate Head of the Jackson Campus starting August 1, 2020. With Elle Shafer stepping confidently into the role of Associate Head of the Teton Valley campus this June, 2019-20 TSS Head of School Michelle Heaton will be able to spend more of her time in Jackson during the next school year.
Cotter Donnell has worked as an independent school educator for 18 years. He began his career as a middle school humanities teacher and has taught English and history at middle and upper school levels throughout his career.
Currently, Cotter works as the director of CITYterm at the Masters School, an experience-based, boarding semester school focused on the complexity of New York City. In his current role, Cotter leads a collaborative faculty in implementing an innovative, learner-centered place-based curriculum. He oversees student life and a residential program, admissions and financial aid, an annual fund and the operating budget.
He also served as the Dean of Studies at the Polytechnic School in Pasadena, California and taught at the Chadwick School in Palos Verdes Peninsula, California; the Swiss Semester program, a semester school in Zermatt, Switzerland; and Lakeside School in Seattle.
Cotter has a bachelor’s degree in English and history from Boston College and master’s degrees in English from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College and educational leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.
Originally from Southern California, Cotter is excited to be moving back to the American West with his wife, Ellie, and their two small children.
