Susan earned her teaching credential from DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, and her Masters in Special Education from Chapman University. After teaching 7th and 8th grade in Chicago Public Schools, she taught in Central America and West Africa. In 2001 she moved to San Diego and began teaching 9th-grade math and physics at High Tech High. She helped open High Tech Middle in 2003 as a math & science teacher. In 2007 she helped open High Tech High North County as the Dean of Students. Susan was the founding Director of High Tech Middle North County from 2009 to 2014. She joined the High Tech elementary North County team as the site manager in 2014. In 2020 Susan began a new adventure working with the student information systems for all sixteen HTH schools.