About Coach Jen Chandler
Jen joined Taft’s science department in 2015 after teaching and coaching for 22 years at her alma mater, Canterbury School. She teaches AP Psychology and chemistry, works in the dormitories, and coaches girls’ varsity squash and tennis. Jen lives on campus with her husband, Corey, who is a member of Taft’s World Languages department.
She received her Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Cornell University, earned Phi Beta Kappa, and received a master’s in education from Northeastern University.
In addition to her focus on classroom education, Jen has had a lifelong interest in the learning involved in athletics, personally competing in soccer, squash, and tennis at Canterbury, and then squash at Cornell where she was the captain and number 1 player her final two years. She developed a passion for coaching once she became involved in private boarding schools. In her many years at Canterbury, Jen coached both boys’ and girls’ varsity squash teams, girls’ junior varsity soccer and boys’ and girls’ tennis teams. It was here that she started incorporating yoga into her work with her teams and has found the benefits to be invaluable. Jen also became connected to the country’s urban squash programs such as CitySquash (NY), Street Squash (NY), and Squash Haven (CT) and had the good fortune to coach a number of athletes from these programs. Jen is a US Squash Level 2 certified coach.
At Taft, Jen has been excited to work with strong teams for both squash and tennis and to continue to incorporate yoga and meditation into practices. Under Jen’s guidance, the tennis team earned places in the Class A New England’s for their 2017 and 2018 seasons and, in 2016, the squash team won Division II of the US Squash High School Nationals. She has been able to maintain her connection with urban squash programs working with students from CitySquash and, for the first time this year, Capital Squash, which is based out of Hartford.
Jen continues to enjoy and challenge herself with her personal athletic endeavors from yoga challenges to hiking sections of the Appalachian Trail.
