Kate McDonald
Candidate for Board of Education

To provide important teacher resources, we are excited to nominate for

Board of Education

Kate McDonald

  • Kate McDonald grew up in Brooklyn and went to Killingly High School.

  • Kate earned her BA at Connecticut College and completed graduate work at Wesleyan University.

  • Following school Kate began a decades-long career teaching Biology at several colleges across Connecticut, including Godwin College, Manchester Community College, Wesleyan, and Connecticut College.

  • Her passion for helping students that were struggling academically led her to a position as a college Academic Learning Specialist. Through this work Kate developed a better understanding of the barriers students often face in the classroom and the skills necessary to support them in overcoming those barriers.

  • Just over a year ago, she took the diverse skills she has accumulated over the last two decades and co-founded a local non-profit that partners with youth-centered organizations to help them utilize data to promote youth success both in and out of the classroom.

  • Kate has strong ties to Woodstock and the surrounding area. Her mother grew up in Brooklyn and both of Kate’s parents were local school teachers. Kate met her husband in high school and although their careers took them out of the area, they were eager to move back when the opportunity arose. Kate has extended family in Woodstock including her aunt and uncle Polly and Tom Hayden, who own Sweet Evalina’s.

  • Kate and her husband have two children, who both attend Woodstock Middle School.

  • Kate spends a lot of her free time riding and working with her two horses. She also enjoys spending time outdoors with her kids and dogs, and likes reading, and painting.