Manchester Staff and Faculty have a unique trait in that many of the staff are married.

With 2026 in full swing, we at MHSscroll thought we would get Manchester’s opinion on the

topic.

“It is kind of peculiar how many are married to one another. Despite this I wouldn’t say

it’s surprising since Manchester High School is known to have a lot of former students work

there and become invested in the school somehow,” stated Ceejay Johnson a Senior of

Manchester High School when asked her thoughts on if she was surprised by how many teachers

and staff work alongside their spouse.

Manchester has many former students return to work here, creating an established school

faculty. With many staff’s invested interest, it brings to question the effects of the schools

community with the many married couples sprawled about.

“I think it definitely affects the community in a positive way because you have two

people working in the same world so to speak so they get each other and they get what is going

and they tend to be more involved in school just because they’re both invested in the same

place,” replied Bonnie Byrnes, a teacher at Manchester for 24 years when asked her thoughts on

the effects of the many teacher couples to Manchester’s school community.

Manchester’s community is enriched by the many married couples within its walls that

become invested in the school. It helps create a space of like minded people who are able to

work together in the same environment. Although the sheer amount of merged couples makes

you wonder if one would consider the amount at Manchester irregular to other schools.

When answering this inquiry, teacher of Manchester for 32 years, Lauren Murray

responded “Is it an anomaly statically speaking? Yes, it is highly unlikely that if you were to go

to other schools that you would see this many married couples… Mr. and Mrs. Ellis also worked

here and you have the Byrnes, the Nothnagels, the Karlsons, there’s several that date, there is

a lot.” With Byrnes adding, “I would definitely say it’s an anomaly; I don’t think there are many

other schools in the area where there are as many married couples that are working together in

the building.”

It’s starting to seem this may be a noteworthy quality of Manchester’s staff with the

apparent deviation in Manchester’s married to unmarried faculty ratio. What are some

of the students’ thoughts on its affects to the school’s community?

“I think that teacher school couples affect our school community in a good way because

you have similar people who are used to being together and working together so it just adds more

depth to everything,” Senior at Manchester High School Abbie Wallace commented when

responding to the above question. Johnson noted, “I think it gives the school community a more

homey and personal or tight knit feel, especially since a lot of teachers’ children go to the school

as well.”

Manchester’s teachers and students seem to agree that the impact of the plentiful married

couples at Manchester is a positive one. 

When speaking of these positives Murray observed, “I think it’s great for our kids to see

healthy relationships because not everyone has that; I think it’s great for them to see that their

caring adults in the building also care for one another.”