About Mr. Seton

A critical element of jazz is capturing the moment, and for Henry Seton, the same is true in effective teaching.

“Those moments when we are all together in the moment,” he says. “Learning, laughing, building critical skills, wrestling with important ideas, and growing together as a model community.”

Mr. Seton, who was born in Arkansas and raised in Newton, Massachusetts, aspired to be a jazz pianist, but a love of learning, of teaching, and of sharing the stories and lessons of history led him to the classroom rather than a sound room.

“I love young people,” he says. “I love getting them excited about the books and ideas that I am excited about,” he says. “I love to inspire an infectious love for learning.”

One of the teachers who inspired him was his AP Statistics teacher at The Roxbury Latin School, Mr. Lieb. “He was super calm and organized. He never wasted a minute and figured out how to make even the most complicated concepts easy to understand,” he says.

Mr. Seton says he finds teaching Humanities to 9th grade students most enjoyable. “Their mental muscles are really starting to ratchet up, but they are still open to pretty much any ideas that I throw their way.”

And when he’s not teaching, he still plays piano. “It satisfies me emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually - just like teaching."