One might think that a History degree from Yale University would secure any alumnus with a job of their choosing. For Glenn Sanchez P’18, ’19, however, this was not the case and proved to be a much-harder-than-anticipated task for the recent Ivy League graduate in the summer of 1990. After applying for over 100 teaching positions in both public and private institutions, Glenn almost threw in the towel and resorted to a second-choice career – becoming a politician.
That being said, when Glenn received the hand-written letter from Marvelwood, a small boarding school located in the town of Cornwall, CT, asking him to come to campus for an interview, he jumped at the chance and made his way to the Litchfield Hills, thinking to himself, two years, tops, then on to politics!
How lucky we are that, 35 years later, Chez is still teaching History at our school. And we’re even luckier that his son Alex, who grew up on Skiff Mountain and graduated from Marvelwood in 2019, is also here, teaching History, right next door to Dad.
Yep. Here at Marvelwood, it’s all about family.
And in 1994, this really became true when Marvelwood hired Sarah Marshall, who would eventually become Glenn’s wife and permanently upend his original plan of a short teaching stint. Both Glenn and Sarah made the move from Cornwall to Kent in 1995 to continue their commitment to education at Marvelwood. Their first child, Victoria, was born in 2000, and Alex the following year in 2001. Skiff Mountain had become home for the Sanchez family of four and the Marvelwood community welcomed them with open arms.
When both Victoria and Alex began to approach adolescence, Glenn and Sarah made a conscious decision to allow them to choose where they wanted to attend high school. It was between public education at Housatonic Valley Regional High School and Marvelwood. Both decided on pterodactyls or bust! And thus began their transition from faculty kids to students to alumni – a journey that would set them both on a path toward success.
Victoria graduated in 2018 and attended Dickinson College, while Alex finished high school the following year and went on to study History at Gettysburg College. Upon graduating, Alex came face-to-face with a decision that had the potential to bring him back to the mountain. Whether he was swayed by his Senior Superlative (Most Likely to Return and Teach at Marvelwood) or simply felt the tug on his heartstrings to come back home, Alex joined the Marvelwood faculty in the fall of 2023.
Almost two years in, Glenn and Alex have settled into their colleagueship, and both feel equally motivated and inspired by working with one another. Glenn feels that he and Alex “make each other better teachers” because they bring different strengths to the profession. For example, Glenn admits that he’s not quite as savvy with the online curriculum and relies on Alex to keep him up-to-date with what the kids are really into these days. On the flip side, Alex looks at the legacy that Glenn has created here at Marvelwood and says quite lovingly, “He’s the reason I do what I do.”
This dynamic duo will continue to share knowledge and shape minds here at Marvelwood for the foreseeable future. They know their partnership can only strengthen and will produce even more exciting lessons and curriculum for the student body. Marvelwood truly is all about family.
And the rest – pun intended – is history.
