Christina Breen

A lifelong educator and leader, Christina Breen, Laurel’s 11th Head of School, has a deep commitment to student-centered learning, character development, and community building. A native of Massachusetts and the daughter of a teacher, Christina grew up in a large family of educators—she and her seven siblings have all chosen careers in education.

Ms. Breen came to Laurel in 2025 from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. As Associate Dean of Student Life at Exeter, she conducted a campus-wide strategic plan, designed and implemented the Student Leadership Training program, managed aspects of the student conduct system and co-designed and implemented the Advising Curriculum. With a commitment to attending to the needs of all children, she founded Fight Club, a student grief support group, and launched a national campaign for college admission directors, raising awareness about the unique circumstances faced by applicants who have experienced loss.

During her seventeen years at Exeter, Ms. Breen was an English instructor and served in a variety of leadership roles. She served on key campus life committees and chaired the faculty agenda committee, which acts as a liaison between faculty and Exeter’s administration. She coached Exeter’s nationally ranked varsity lacrosse team to ten consecutive winning seasons and founded the Captain’s Council Student Leadership Program. She advocated for greater equity in athletics, spearheaded the We Are All Big Red initiative to foster inclusion in sports, and played a pivotal role in the creation of a Girls Sports Director role at Exeter. Ms. Breen was the recipient of the Daniel E. Koshland, Jr., Distinguished Faculty Award (twice), the Rupert Radford Faculty Fellowship Award, the Graves Family Teaching and Innovation Award and in her final year at Exeter she was awarded the George S. Heyer, Jr. '48 Teaching Fund Award which is awarded to a faculty member of outstanding caliber in recognition of the highest intellectual merit, devoted service, and lengthy tenure.

Ms. Breen received her undergraduate degree in English from Tufts University, where she also played varsity lacrosse, held several records on the women’s lacrosse team, and could be found performing on the mainstage during the off-season. Prior to Exeter, she was a lecturer in English at the University of Vermont, an instructor in English at St. Mark’s School where she was recently inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame, and the founder and administrator of Heronfield Academy, where she led the buildings and grounds, development and pedagogy committees, designed curriculum, served as director of admissions, chaired the accreditation process, helped to guide two strategic planning processes, and then became a trustee. She holds three master’s degrees, from the Universities of Vermont and New Hampshire, respectively, and most recently one in independent school leadership as a Klingenstein Scholar at Columbia University.