Head of School Search
In November 2020, Heidi Johnson announced her intention to retire as head of The Waverly School at the end of the 2020 – 2021 school year. Heidi has been our long-serving Head of School, and we are tremendously grateful for all that she has accomplished during her 25 years of service to Waverly. A national search is now underway to find Waverly’s next Head of School. Consistent with NAIS best practices, the Board of Trustees has assembled a Head of School Search Committee and retained Carney, Sandoe & Associates, a highly regarded international search firm, to work with the Search Committee. This page will be updated as the Head of School search progresses.
We welcome your suggestions and questions. For all inquiries regarding the Head of School search please contact us at headofschoolsearch@thewaverlyschool.org. In addition, please take a look at these Frequently Asked Questions concerning the search process.
Interim Head Search Position Statement
Information about the Interim Head of School Search for candidates from our search firm Carney, Sandoe & Associates: Position profile (PDF).
Meet the Search Committee
- Maria Brown (Parent of Aaliyah ’26 & Natalie ’24/Elementary School Teacher)
- Leo Glazé (Middle School Teacher/MS Basketball Coach)
- Jason Gottlieb (Parent of Sam ’20, Patrick ’16, & Eamonn ’15/Assistant Head of School at Elementary School)
- Greg Harrison (Parent of Eiji ’23 & Kazuo ’21/High School Teacher)
- Debbie Lennon (Parent of Megan ’11/Trustee)
- Wendy Lopata (Parent of Murray ’25 & Nolan ’22/Trustee)
- Noah Mayer (Parent of Lucy ’28, Charlie ’30, & Frankie ’33/Board of Trustees Chair): Non-Voting, Ex-Officio
- Vijay Natraj (Parent of Siddarth ’33 & Avantika ’31/Trustee)
- Jeanny Tafoya (Preschool Director & Teacher)
- Nadine Tanio (Parent of Isaac ’21/Trustee): Search Committee Co-Chair
- Joanne Toll (Parent of Jamie ’22/Trustee)
- Serita Young (Parent of Aaron ’29 & Riley ’28/Board of Trustees Vice Chair): Search Committee Co-Chair
Communications to the Waverly Community
February 11, 2021
Dear Waverly community,
We are writing on behalf of the Search Committee to provide you with an update on the Head of School search process.
Over the past several weeks, our principal consultants from Carney Sandoe & Associates, Bob Fricker and Jennifer Christensen, have been working with the Search Committee to prepare the Head of School position profile. This document serves as a tool in the recruitment process, offering potential candidates a glimpse into our school community and culture.
Incorporating the feedback received from the virtual visits, surveys, and other communications, our consultants have developed a position profile that they will be sharing with prospective candidates. You can find the Interim position profile here.
So far, we are pleased that our work closely parallels our timeline and we look forward to reviewing candidate materials in the coming weeks. Over the next few weeks we will likely not have substantive news to announce as our consultants work to recruit, interview, and vet the strongest candidates for the interim and permanent Head of School positions. Bob and Jennifer have already begun the process of reaching out to their network and to the individuals recommended by our community and are thrilled to report that interest in this position is strong.
We expect that our consultants will present the Search Committee with candidates for the interim position in late February from which we will select a group for semi-finalist interviews.. We expect that they will present the Search Committee with candidates for the permanent position in late July from which we will select a group of semi-finalist interviews sometime in August. Please note that the Search Committee’s work, interviews, and interactions with potential candidates is done on a confidential basis to protect the candidates until the finalist stages for both the interim and permanent positions.
The Search Committee, in consultation with our Bob and Jennifer, will then select the interim finalists who will meet with our community in March and permanent finalists who will meet with our community in September. After vetting all the feedback, the Search Committee will make recommendations to the Board of Trustees for the next interim and permanent Heads of School. We would hope to be in a position to announce the interim Head of School by April and the next permanent Head of School by October. The timeline outlined above is also summarized here on the school’s Head of School search webpage.
This is a new process for most of us, and while it may feel a bit unsettling, we assure you the Search Committee is listening to your feedback, taking our responsibility to our community very seriously, and is grounded in Waverly’s values.
As always, if you have any questions or comments for the Search Committee, we invite you to reach out via email at headofschoolsearch@thewaverlyschool.org. Thank you all for the input and participation to date.
Warmly,
Nadine Tanio and Serita Young
Head of School Search Committee Co-Chair
Please click on the links below for communications to the Waverly community that share information about where we currently are in the search process as well as what is ahead.
February 11, 2021 — Search Update (PDF) & Interim Position Profile (PDF)
January 26, 2021 — Search Update (PDF) & Attachment (PDF)
December 21, 2020 — Search Process Announcement (PDF)
December 17, 2020 — Search Committee Announcement (PDF)
November 18, 2020 — Board Chair Update and Announcement of Engagement of Carney, Sandoe & Associates (PDF)
November 18, 2020 — Retirement Announcement (PDF)
The Search Process
Download a PDF of the search process timeline here.
