Cindy Merrill attended the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemistry, in 1980. After graduation, she embarked on a career in the pharmaceutical industry, working as an analytical chemist. Although she found her industry experience rewarding, Mrs. Merrill knew her true calling was education.
Her first teaching job was working in the Diocese of Boston at Christopher Columbus High School, followed by a position at her alma mater, Archbishop Williams High School in Braintree, Massachusetts. In the fall of 1989, Mrs. Merrill joined the staff at Cushing Academy, where she spent thirty years teaching chemistry and physics -- and where one fateful day, she met her husband, Pete, at a school function. The couple have three grown sons: Jeffrey, Nicky, and Joe, all of whom attended Saint Anthony’s Elementary in Fitchburg.
Throughout her many years in the classroom, Mrs. Merrill continued her education, studying under the National Science Foundation and earning her Master’s in Teaching Physical Science (1996). Never one to stop learning, Mrs. Merrill earned her second Master’s degree in Physics Education at WPI (2021).
Mrs. Merrill is happy to return to her roots as a Catholic school educator at St. Bernard’s, where she is teaching Chemistry and Physics and serves as the Department Chair for the Sciences Department.