Dear parents and guardians, Upper School students, board members, and faculty-staff,
I’m writing to let you know that the head of school search committee and our search consultants, working in close collaboration, have now completed the school profile. This is the document that the consultants will use – indeed are using already – to introduce Catlin Gabel to prospective candidates. The profile has been posted on the school website, and we invite you to take a look at it. This document was the product of a great deal of careful thought. We feel it provides an honest and comprehensive picture of our school, and believe it will indeed be helpful in producing a terrific pool of applicants. We hope you agree.
The preliminary stages of the search have now been completed. To remind you of the steps so far:
• In various settings, the search committee engaged in lengthy and serious discussions about our ambitions for Catlin Gabel and for a new head of school.
• On the basis of an intensive and very competitive process, we selected outstanding search consultants.
• We solicited opinions and recommendations from the entire community regarding the search process and possible candidates.
• The consultants formally surveyed the community and also conducted a series of meetings on campus with a wide range of constituents.
• On the basis of all this information, we were able to develop a systematic view of community-wide opinion on a large variety of issues that resulted in, among other things, the profile.
The search is now entering what might be called its silent stage. For the next several months we will build the applicant pool. Our consultants will evaluate recommendations from any number of sources, both from within and outside the Catlin Gabel community, and will work with potential candidates to ascertain and, in many cases, encourage their interest. Much of this is, of course, behind-the-scenes work. It will be conducted largely in confidence, which is why there will be little if anything to report for several months. During the summer the search committee will identify and meet in person with a small number of especially promising candidates from which we hope to select our finalists. The plan is to bring finalists – perhaps three in number – to campus for interviews in mid to late September. At that point the silent phase will suddenly end. On-campus interviews will be public, and we intend to make them as inclusive as possible.
All of this means that – barring the unforeseen – you will next hear from me in late August or early September, at which time I will inform the entire community of the identities of our finalists and provide detailed information about the interview process itself. The search committee has worked together closely, very effectively, and, I must say, in a spirit of wonderful collegiality. We remain extremely optimistic and excited, and are already aware of a number of highly qualified people who are likely to become active and very strong candidates. On behalf of the committee, I can say that expressions of support and enthusiasm from the community have been most encouraging, and we greatly look forward to your participation in September as the final stages of the search unfold. In the meantime, and as always, thoughts, suggestions, recommendations, and the like will always be welcome and can be communicated to me at searchchair@catlin.edu.
Sincerely,
Peter Steinberger, trustee, parent of alumna, search committee chair
Search committee members
Dave Cannard, Jr. ’76, trustee (1997-07), board chair (2004-07), current parent, parent of alumnus, alumnus
Li-Ling Cheng, Middle School Mandarin teacher, parent of alumna
Clint Darling, interim head of school (1982-83), Upper School head (1973-86), retired Upper School English and French teacher, parent of alumnae
Isaac Enloe, kindergarten teacher
Aline Garcia-Rubio ’93, Upper School assistant head, dean of students, science teacher, current parent, alumna
John Gilleland, trustee, board chair (2009-12), current parent
Alix Meier Goodman ’71, trustee, endowment committee member, board chair (2007-10), parent of alumni, alumna
Vicki Roscoe, assistant head of school and Lower School head
Eric Rosenfeld ’83, vice-chair and treasurer board of trustees, current parent, alumnus
Miranda Wellman ’91, director of advancement, alumna
Jim Wysocki, Upper School math teacher and department chair