Between 1860 and 1866 Julia Sears taught at a normal school in Cape Cod. In 1866, Sears was a teacher in Western State Normal School, later to be named Farmington State Normal School. The principal of Western State Normal School was George M. Gage, but in 1868 he moved to Mankato, Minnesota. Julia Sears had known George Gage, as a schoolmate, at Bridgewater Normal School. After Gage's departure, Sears went to teach at Prescott School for Boys and Girls in Charlestown, Boston. From 1869 to 1871, Sears was the Head Assistant in Boston. In the summer of 1870, George Gage offered Sears the position of Head Assistant at Mankato Normal School, but Sears refused this offer. During this time, Sears studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
