MEGAN GRANT
What one piece of advice would you offer anyone who asks? Start a gratitude journal—write down one or two things each day that you are thankful for.
What is the best piece of advice you received and who gave it to you? My dad always reminds me to take things one day at a time.
What is your greatest strength? I am incredibly patient!
What is the best compliment someone can give you? You are making a difference.
What is the biggest risk you have ever taken in your life? Moving to Charlottesville for a teaching job—I thought I would only be there for one or two years, but ended up staying for nine!
What are you obsessed with? Orangetheory Fitness.
Megan Grant grew up in Potomac, Md., the oldest of three siblings in a family that spent summers all in at the Potomac Woods Swim Club—her siblings racing, her mom serving as team representative, and her dad on the microphone as announcer. It was a full-family operation, the kind of place where afternoons stretched into evenings and everyone had a role to play.
By 14, Megan was already coaching, which led her to teaching. She loved working with kids and helping them build confidence—an early thread that still runs through her life today. As a child, she dreamed of becoming an Olympic swimmer. Today, she dreams of watching a swimmer she coached from the stands—fingers crossed for LA 2028! She’s still never far from the water. She coaches the SSSAS varsity swimming and the Army Navy Country Club summer swim team. Megan stays active year-round with running, swimming, and tennis.
She majored in English and communication at Denison University, where she enjoyed the small classes and liberal arts environment, and earned her master’s in reading education from the University of Virginia.
As a Lower School teacher, reading lessons were always her favorite part of the day. She treasured the opportunity to work with striving readers and provide additional support to build their decoding, fluency, and comprehension skills, as well as their confidence. She joined SSSAS as a fourth grade teacher, later taught third grade, and now serves as a literacy specialist and instructional coach, a role that feels like a natural extension of what she loved most in the classroom.
She believes an important part of coaching is building a close-knit team and ensuring that all athletes feel a sense of belonging and that the same is true for building a strong classroom community. As both a coach and a teacher, she is a strong advocate and cheerleader for her students and often says that coaching has made her a better teacher and teaching has made her a better coach!
Outside of school, Megan is—of course—a voracious reader. The last book she couldn’t put down was “Little One” by Olivia Muenter. When she isn’t reading, you might catch her watching shows like “Love Story.”
Megan loves exploring new places and trying new things, like learning how to surf in Portugal last summer. Her traveling dreams are now filled with visions of Australia and New Zealand.
Closer to home, she gravitates toward Nationals Park and the Old Town waterfront in the summer, drawn to places that feel lively and connected. She’s also a proud aunt to two nieces and a nephew, and she lavishes them with reading and swimming lessons, passing along the same skills and encouragement that shaped her.
At the center of it all is a simple belief—“we can do hard things”—one that shows up in the way she teaches, coaches, and lives, with a steady mix of warmth, encouragement, and quiet determination that has been there from the very beginning.