Letter from the MTSS/504 Coordinator EC

Hi y’all! I’m Lindy Settevendemie, the MTSS and 504 Coordinator at the Elementary Campus.  For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a educator.  When I was 9, I was able to coax my playmates in Marietta, GA to come to “school” in my basement in the summertime, where I “taught” with garage sale textbooks and a sweet easel-style chalkboard.  But I wasn’t ready for all that responsibility when I finished my undergrad degree in English at UGA, so I had some great experiences with Americorps in Oregon and publishing in New York City. Teaching was always on my mind though, and I knew that ultimately I needed to do the kind of work that fed my spirit, fostered authentic connection and helped the world be a better place.

I finally decided to take the plunge and headed to UNC-Chapel Hill where I earned my MAT. I stayed in North Carolina and grew my wings teaching high school where the kids in my Yearbook class made me a real teacher, by showing me a lot about what it means to “teach the whole child.” 

When I came to ANCS as an 8th grade Humanities Lead Teacher in 2011, I was pleasantly surprised. ANCS has in its principles and procedures many of the aspects of what a model school should: every student is known well by at least one adult in the building; teachers regularly collaborate and work as critical friends; authentic DE&I opportunities are frequently offered to adults and kids; social-emotional learning (SEL) experiences are embedded in curricula and explicitly taught in advisory and morning meetings.  

Our school has dramatically supported and influenced my growth as an educator and a person during my tenure here. So much so that I left in 2016 to pursue an opportunity to write SEL curriculum for SEE Learning at Emory University. An initiative originally conceived by the Dalai Lama, the program allowed me to travel around the world and gave me what I like to call my “minor” in compassion-based SEL. In my 18 years in education, social-emotional learning has risen to the surface as my #1 passion in schools because it can support all kids’ well-being and provide an avenue for heartfelt, real equity work. 

I was thrilled to return to ANCS in 2021 and am delighted to be working at a school that prizes student and adult well-being as much as we do. In my current role, I am fortunate to be able to fold in many of my professional experiences into the work of supporting struggling students and their teachers, both with academic and behavioral interventions. I am proud to support kids and families as they navigate 504 plans as part of their civil right to a free appropriate public education. 

And lately, I have also had the amazing opportunity to develop responsive SEL lessons for ANCS teachers to use in their classrooms on a weekly basis. In addition, I am part of our Anti-Racist Educators Group and coordinate dog therapy visits here at the EC.  I live close by in Reynoldstown, where I enjoy our neighborhood and our city with my partner Randy and our furkids Pickle and Olive.