Meredith McNerney

Meredith McNerney is an educator, author, and former school principal with more than two decades of experience in education. She has served as a teacher, national trainer, and principal of a Title I elementary school of nearly 900 students in Montgomery County, Maryland, where under her leadership the school improved from among the lowest performing in the district to being rated a 4-star school on the Maryland School Report Card. She is the founder and president of Calmer Schools and works as a speaker and professional learning designer, helping schools create environments where students and educators feel safe and supported.

McNerney is the author of Cultivating a Classroom of Calm: How to Promote Student Engagement and Self-Regulation (ASCD), which offers mindfulness- and neuroscience-informed strategies for building calmer, more engaging classrooms, and of Facing Cancer: A Spiritual Journey from Pain to Peace, a memoir about her spiritual journey through illness. She earned her doctorate in education from Northeastern University, where she researched educator mental health with a focus on attracting and retaining Black and Brown educators.