Molly Plummer Cook ’95 Honored with the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award

“CRS gave me the unique opportunity to be myself completely while teaching me how to be a good human. Yes, there were math tests and essays, but what I see as most valuable now in my adult years are the less tangible but more relevant life skills. It’s really important to be a good human. I encourage you to continue to wake up, notice others, and continue to be the best human you can be.”
-Molly Plummer Cook ’95

We are delighted to honor Molly Plummer Cook ’95 with the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Award. Molly, a CRS end-to-ender, visited campus and shared with students about how her time at CRS left a lasting impact and inspired her work today. 

Molly is the true embodiment of this award and of all that CRS hopes to instill in its graduates. A clinical psychologist and founder of the North Shore Center for Neuropsychology in Marblehead, Molly works with children, adolescents, and young adults. Giving back to the community is a core value for Molly, as evidenced by her involvement with the Salem-based Plummer Youth Promise, an organization that serves youths in foster care in residential- and community-based settings, helping them find families, develop skills, and connect to communities to become healthy adults. She is also a proud member of the board of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. 

We were honored to welcome Molly back to campus, joined by her husband and three kids, her parents, and her beloved third grade teacher Teresa Baker who nominated Molly for the award. In her nomination, Teresa noted Molly’s dedication to serving youth, her enthusiastic advocacy for the arts, and her community engagement.  

At the assembly, Head of School Gabe Burnstein asked students what it means to be “distinguished” and their answers describe Molly well: “someone who is special and important; someone who is good at something; someone who is high-achieving.”

After Molly shared about her work and fond memories of CRS, she led students in a service learning project: creating kindness rocks together with Buddies which will line the path to the entrance of the Community Garden.

 

About the Award
The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented every other year to a member of the alumni community who has demonstrated excellence in personal accomplishment, professional achievement, or humanitarian service, or has made significant contributions to the school, whose efforts have built community, and whose dedication has enhanced the lives of our students, faculty, and staff. It relates deeply to the last line of the Charles River School mission “Our graduates know themselves, understand others, and shape the future of our diverse world with confidence and compassion.”

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Charles River School is a PreKindergarten through Grade 8 independent school that honors the pursuit of academic excellence and the joy of childhood. We nurture each child by igniting curiosity, encouraging creativity, and cultivating intellectual engagement. Our graduates know themselves, understand others, and shape the future of our diverse world with confidence and compassion.

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