We’re proud to share that David Sizemore has joined our Mercy Social Studies Department and will be our newest Mercy Teacher this school year.
Over the summer, Sizemore was named to our social studies staff, joining Kathleen Durbois, Elliot Levesque, and Henry Davis in the department.
After 33 years in education, including nearly 20 at Xavier High School, where he was a teacher and later an Academic Dean, Sizemore arrives back on Randolph Road ready for the next chapter of his career and is eager to give back to Mercy.
“I am thrilled that David [Sizemore] is joining us at Mercy,” President Alissa K. DeJonge '95 said. “Having spent much of his professional life serving in Catholic schools in faculty and administrative positions, David understands the transformative role that faith, compassion and community play in educating young people. Returning to the classroom in a Catholic school is an opportunity to use his talents to help students grow academically, personally, and spiritually.”
Since his days as a Xavier student and later a Xavier teacher and administrator, Sizemore has always had an affection for Mercy.
Mercy students and Mercy teachers were his friends, and he always admired how the school delivered its Catholic, All-Girls education to its students. Now after being out of the classroom for a few years, he is ready to be back teaching.
After leaving Xavier in 2018, Sizemore was the principal at St. Joseph School in Thompson, and the Assistant Head of School and Director of Development at the Independent Day School in Middlefield.
This will officially serve as Year No. 34 in education for the self-described extrovert.
“I’m excited to share what I’ve learned as a teacher and as an administrator not only with the students, but hopefully with my new colleagues as well," Sizemore said. "Whatever I can do help foster the values of Mercy, I’m very much looking forward to doing that."
Sizemore is eager to dive into everything Mercy. The games, the clubs, the traditions … it is all part of what made this job so alluring after being out of the classroom.
“I value single-gender education and for years I have heard nothing but positive things about Mercy,” Sizemore said. “There’s something to be said about the Mercy community. It’s a place I want to be.”
Sizemore was hired after a competitive search process, which generated many talented candidates. He will be teaching psychology and 20th Century History and Civics.
“We are excited to welcome Mr. Sizemore into our Social Studies department,” Mercy Principal Melissa Bullock said. “Our young women will certainly benefit from his many years of experience in private and Catholic education.”
As he prepared for the start of a new school year this summer, Sizemore talked about what his teaching style will be like at Mercy.
“Yes, there’s going to be some direct teaching from myself, but more importantly than that there will be debates in class,” Sizemore said. “Students will have to take a position and defend a position.”
He also discussed teaching in the era of AI, and why he’s ready for the challenge.
“I’m hoping to really hone in on the basics of critical thinking, analytical thinking, and especially, writing,” Sizemore said. “Writing is a big part of what I do as a teacher and I want these students to be prepared for the next level. I’m really excited to be going back to the classroom [in this age of AI].”
Over the years, Sizemore has had plenty of experiences to call on, but he said he will look to the careers of two of his mentors from Xavier for inspiration: Tom Aiello and Brother Thomas Ryan, CFX. When he was a younger teacher at Xavier, both Aiello and Ryan went back into the classroom after several years as administrators.
“At the time, I didn’t understand why they did it, but now I do,” Sizemore said. “I look at those gentlemen as great role models for me and examples that you can bring a lot of what you learned over the years and become an even better teacher than you were before.”