March 2018 Update from the Head of School Search Committee


Dear Woodlynde Community,
 
I am excited to update you on the progress of the search for our next Head of School for Woodlynde. As communicated previously, transparency and inclusion are vital to this process, and I am pleased to report that we are off to a good start, largely because of all of you.

I am thankful to everyone in the Woodlynde Community who participated in our search consultants' site visit and to those who took the time to complete the search survey. Your support and thoughtful insights are greatly appreciated.
 
Between March 4 and 6, Skip Kotkins and Peter O'Neill, our Carney, Sandoe & Associates (CS&A) search firm consultants, visited Woodlynde to speak with faculty, staff, students, and our Board of Trustees to gain an in-depth understanding of our school. Despite the fact that many were still dealing with the aftermath of our early March Nor'easter, the consultants met with 153 members of the Woodlynde Community during their three-day visit to understand our strengths, challenges, and opportunities for growth. We also had more than 120 individuals provide CS&A with additional insights by participating in the online survey. These individuals included faculty, parents, alumni, alumni parents, and school professionals.
 
Skip and Peter were most appreciative of the candor, the passion for the school, and the positive and constructive suggestions and observations shared with them. They also made a point of highlighting their notice of the self-confidence and courtesy of our Woodlynde students. Without exception, Skip and Peter were uniformly greeted in the hallways, cafeteria, classrooms, and on the curb with a warm hello and a smile - something of particular note to consultants who visit many other schools throughout the year.
 
Using the feedback gained from these site visits and survey results, CS&A has created the Head of School Position Description that will be posted to our website shortly.
 
Candidates for the interim Head of School role are in the process of being identified and will be interviewed by the Search Committee in April. These meetings will be confidential to ensure the integrity of the process, and it is anticipated that the selection of the interim will be made by the Search Committee and the Board of Trustees by the end of April. As a reminder, the Search Committee was created as a representative group whose job is to evaluate candidates against the all-school criteria that the Woodlynde Community has helped to create.
 
The search for the permanent Head of School will launch after Spring Break with recruitment taking place during late spring and early summer. The Search Committee will work through the summer to narrow the candidates down to a pool of finalists. In the fall, we will begin the process of setting up site visit dates to ensure that the Woodlynde Community has the opportunity to meet with the final permanent Head of School candidates. Throughout this months-long process, we will continue to provide you with updates.
 
I know I speak for many in our Woodlynde Community and the entire Search Committee when I say the future of Woodlynde School is exciting and bright!
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Woodlynde School is a private, co-ed college prep day school located in suburban Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, that serves intelligent, talented students with learning differences in grades K - 12. Woodlynde provides a comprehensive, evidence-based Kindergartenelementarymiddle and high school program in a challenging yet nurturing environment for students with average to above average cognitive abilities (IQ) who have language- or math-based learning differences (such as Dyslexia, Dysgraphia or Dyscalculia), Executive Function Challenges, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), or Auditory Processing Disorder. Even for those students without a diagnosed learning disability (LD), Woodlynde offers expert and caring teachers in small classroom settings that support academic success. Woodlynde School also offers a post-graduate (PG) program in partnership with Rosemont College as well as a regional Summer Camp for students who learn differently.