Our Staff

Ms. Thornton comes to Phoenix with over 13 years of experience working with youth and in education.Ms. Thornton is a western Massachusetts native, born and raised in Springfield, MA. She earned her B.A. in Mass Communications while attending Virginia Union University, an HBCU located in Richmond, VA.

From there she decided to return home back to Western Mass, where she earned her M.Ed from Lesley University. While earning her degree, she worked with a collaboration with Citizen Schools and Springfield Public Schools services as a Teaching Fellow for Duggan Middle School teaching ELA for 7th grade. She later became the Deputy Director for Springfield and 8GA State Captain for 4 campuses across Massachusetts.

Continuing to work in the field of Education she served as the Director of Education for Martin Luther King Family Services for 7 years before joining Phoenix as a Humanities Teacher. While at Phoenix, for the past 5 years she has served as a Teacher Leader and the Manager of Positive Youth Development. Now as the Director of School Culture, Ms. Thornton strives to foster a school culture full of joy, respect, strong relationships and community.