The Brentwood staff added multiple new teachers this year including the brand new freshman English teacher, Elena Royal!

 Ms. Royal was born in Michigan but grew up in Indiana. After getting her undergraduate degree in English from Franciscan University and her Masters degree from Pine Manor College, she began teaching in Indiana. After two years of teaching in Lacorte Indiana and five years teaching in South Bend, Royal moved to St. Louis to continue her career.  

Ms. Royal grew up around teaching saying, “Most of my family is in teaching so in some degree when I finished college, it was sort of a natural thought process.” Even though she did not initially want to become a teacher, she quickly found that it was the career for her: “It’s an easy profession to fall in love with,” says Royal. 

Royal describes her teaching style as an organized environment with “clear and fair expectations.” She values a warm and kind environment where students can have open discussions about literature. She believes that students can learn a lot about the world from developing their reading and writing skills. She said she fell in love with teaching English because it: “Teaches you how to be human.” 

So far, Ms. Royal has enjoyed her time on the Brentwood staff and teaching smaller classes. “There have been a lot of fun students with great personalities,” said Royal.

Currently, Ms. Royal is reading When the Legends Die by Hal Borland with her freshman classes and cites her favorite book as Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. 

Along with her classes, Ms. Royal took over the position of Friends of Rachel sponsor after Mrs. Cobb left. Friends of Rachel is a club that aims to spread small and large acts of kindness throughout the Brentwood community and the world. The club meets on Mondays at lunch in Ms. Royal’s room.

We are so happy to have someone as passionate and dedicated about teaching as Ms. Royal join the Brentwood Family!