Spring Bulletin 2012 - The Park School

Q. Who is leading the search process?
The Board of Trustees is responsible for selecting
and hiring Park’s next Head of School and
created a Search Committee to facilitate the
search process. The Committee has trustee,
faculty, parent, and alumni representatives,
and brings a breadth and depth of perspectives
as well as a passion for The Park School.
You can read brief bios about all of us on the
website: www.parkschool.org/headsearch.
Q. What is the role of the Search
Committee?
The Search Committee directs the search
process from start to finish. Our job is
to coordinate input from Park’s varied
constituencies, work to craft the Position
Description, sort through the initial round of
candidates vetted by the search firm, and
organize and conduct interviews with the
semifinalists and finalists. At the end of the
process, the Search Committee will present
one broadly supported candidate to be
confirmed by the Board of Trustees.
Throughout the search process, we want to
keep the Park community informed and
engaged, while respecting the confidentiality
of the candidate recruitment process.
An Update on the
Head of School Search Process
with Lanny Thorndike ’81,
Search Committee Chair
Lanny, a Trustee and alumnus, is — together with his wife,
Anne — also the parent of two current Park students,
Russell (Grade IV) and Anna (Grade VIII,) and one alumnus,
James, a member of Park’s Class of 2011.
Q. How did Park choose the search firm?
Recognizing that selecting our next leader is a
critical milestone for the School, we solicited
requests for proposals from several leading
search firms in the summer of 2011. Following
an extensive review process, the Search
Committee selected Carney, Sandoe & Associates
(CS&A) to serve as consultants in this
search. CS&A is a leader in recruiting heads
at independent schools around the country,
and we are excited to be working with this
renowned search firm. Aggie Underwood,
our lead consultant, is Vice President and
Managing Associate of the firm and was
Head of School at National Cathedral School
and Garrison Forest School. Her Senior Search
Associate colleague Chuck Burdick has 38
years of experience in five NAIS schools,
including 19 years at Milton Academy. Aggie
and Chuck spent two days on campus in
February, learning more about what makes
Park “Park” in individual and group interviews.
I think this immersion visit will make
them terrific advocates for the School as they
meet with candidates.
Q. How is the search progressing?
I am thrilled with the amazing community
input we have received to date. We had 597
2 The Park School Bulletin | Spring 2012
respondents to our online survey in Feb ruary,
which exceeded our initial goal of 400.
Thanks to everyone who participated! All of
these responses help paint an accurate picture
of both the School’s culture and the
important characteristics and skills that Park’s
next Head of School will need to possess.
As you might expect, some trends did
emerge from the questionnaire results. The
Park community values the exceptional quality
of teaching and the low faculty/student
ratios, and we want Park’s next leader to
introduce innovative thinking while bringing
real passion for elementary education. This
feedback helped us create the Position
Description that you can see on our website
(parkschool.org/headsearch) and are sending
out to potential candidates.
Together with the search consultants,
the Search Committee has finalized a job
description and has begun spreading the
word to qualified candidates across the
United States. Already, we’ve received more
than 100 inquiries about the position. Its
reassuring to know that Park is so wellregarded
in terms of the quality of our faculty
and staff, curriculum, multiculturalism, strategic
initiatives, financial aid and resources —
we enter this search in an enviable position.
Q. What’s next?
This spring, the search process goes into
a “quiet phase,” where CS&A and the
Committee will review resumes and select
appropriate candidates to advance to the
next stage. In the summer and early fall, a
handful of semifinalists will visit the Park
campus for tours and interviews. Our goal is
to announce Park’s next Head of School in
November 2012. He or she would begin
on July 1, 2013.
Q. Anything else you’d like to add?
We will continue to keep the Park community
informed about the search process on
the school website: www.parkschool/
headsearch. And, if anyone has any questions,
comments or suggestions about the
search process, or would like to suggest a
candidate for Head of School, please feel free
to contact me directly at
headsearch@parkschool.org.