Jan Jacobi grew up in Mt. Kisco, NY, about 40 miles north of New York City. He attended an independent school and then, starting in 8th grade, was sent to Kent School, a boarding school in Kent, Connecticut. It was the best five years of his life. He loved boarding school life: the classes, the teachers, the friends, the athletics, and the Episcopal church, which was the center of school life. He graduated knowing that he wanted to be a teacher and a school administrator.

He was able to fulfill that dream. From 1973-1982, he was an English teacher and assistant headmaster at The Harvey School in Katonah, NY. From 1982 until 2103, he was a teacher and administrator at St. Louis Country Day School (later MICDS). For 27 years he was Head of Lower School at CDS and then Head of Middle School at MICDS. He fell in love with middle schoolers (He remains one himself.) and never taught at any other level.

In 2013, he accepted Beth Mosher’s offer to teach the 7th and 8th grade humanities class at TSMSOC. It has been the joy of his professional life. He has designed his own curriculum (American history and literature, [some young adult literature]) over a two year period. In the five years he has taught the course, three major units have evolved: the American Revolution, the Civil War (Battle of Gettysburg as a metaphor), the Great Depression. He loves his students and his greatest reward is to see them accepted at their first choice schools.