Nunes, a Master Science Teacher, Retiring from “Third Career”!

Science teacher Dr. Geoff Nunes is retiring after nine years at the Prep. Though teaching high school is his “third career” after stints as a college professor at Dartmouth College and working as a researcher at Dupont, Nunes thinks it may be the most rewarding.

“There is something about teaching in a high school that I have really enjoyed,” Nunes says. “Every student I have taught I can say that I know them. It has allowed me to really personalize my teaching.”

In his time at the Prep, Nunes has taught Physics (including AP1 and APC) as well as Physical Science. He is also proud to have worked with the Prep’s Mathematics department to help some of the school’s top students to be better prepared for high-level AP Physics work. 

For most of his tenure, he used a “Thinking Classroom” model, utilizing white boards and group work to adapt to changing learning styles. Dr. Nunes is one of the field preeminent experts on the subject and in retirement intends to spend more time as part of the American Modeling Teachers Association to help spread the word of this style to other teachers. He has even been able to have a few Prep teachers adopt variations of this model.

A well-respected teacher and physicist, Nunes recently wrote the 4th most downloaded item in the American Journal of Physics, “It is time to honor Emmy Noether with a momentum unit” in 2024.

In retirement, Dr. Nunes plans to do more reading and recently bought himself a retirement gift: a new Kindle! In addition, he will continue to work on his Website noragulfa.com, a resource for teachers and students of Physics. He will always look back at his time at the Prep fondly. “I am going to miss this place,” he says.