Elizabeth (Beth) Coyne has spent the past 29 years in education, in both public and private schools. With each role she has assumed, her passion for educating and caring for young people has grown, as has her commitment to caring for all community members at her school. She considers her calm, clear, and analytic leadership style most conducive to her strength in building staff relationships and performance. She enjoys being a role model to both students and staff as she appreciates what every person can contribute to a warm and supportive community spirit.

Just out of college, Beth became the Assistant Director of the Annual Fund at the University of Rhode Island. She studied education as an undergraduate and, after several years in the development world, began her teaching career at Beecher Road School in Woodbridge, CT. While there she also served as a cooperating teacher for Southern Connecticut State University and Quinnipiac University. In 2002 Beth began teaching at The Country School in Madison, where she remained for the past 21 years and filled various roles: Teacher, Library Media Specialist, Dean of Students, Secondary School Counselor, coach, and since 2018, Assistant Head of School. Beth helped found and was a member of the school’s Inclusion Diversity Empathy in Action Alliance.

Beth has sat on various Board committees over the years and has sought many professional development opportunities in the form of graduate work (she earned a Master of Special Education and a Master of Library Science) and attendance at many workshops/institutes on topics such as curriculum, social-emotional health, Critical Friends training, Diversity, budgeting, and hiring. In addition, she has completed the NAIS Aspiring Heads program (2021-2022).

Beth received the highest compliment of her academic career when it was announced that an appreciative family at the Country School had founded the Elizabeth Coyne Scholarship Fund. This endowed fund awards students who, according to the donors, emulate much of what Beth brought to their school – leadership, creativity, a sense of wonder, and intellectual curiosity.

In addition to her work at The Country School, Beth enjoys volunteer work. She is a past Chair of the Hartford Area Boarding Schools / Junior Schools Annual Conference Planning Committee and a mentor in the International Teaching and Global Leadership Cohort at Johns Hopkins University. Beth is a parishioner at Madison’s Saint Margaret Church and has served as a lector, Eucharistic Minister, and CCD and confirmation teacher; she is also the Former President of the Women’s Fellowship.

Growing up in Warwick, Rhode Island, Beth is the daughter of Irish immigrants and was the first in her family to graduate from college. She moved to Connecticut and with her husband, Brendan, have spent the last 22 years raising their family and volunteering their time in Madison. Aside from her work at St. Margaret, Beth has served as President of Madison’s Scranton Memorial Library Board and led the library through a successful $15 million dollar capital campaign and renovation. Beth and Brendan’s son Joseph, a Choate graduate, is a recent graduate and past Commodore of the Sailing Team at Georgetown University. Their daughter Maggie, a Miss Porter’s graduate, is a sophomore at Villanova University and a member of its Women’s Rowing Team. If Beth is not enjoying a long walk or hike with family and friends, she can be found curled up with a good book.