This article appeared as "The Next Level" in the Spring 2023 issue of Independent School.Many candidates on the path to headship gain their initial senior administrative-level experience as division heads. Their work is connected to many areas of school governance, and division heads are often responsible for developing new programs to inspire current and future families, designing facilities with the present and future needs in mind, and recruiting, developing, and retaining faculty and staff—among many other things.
When it comes to taking the next step up to a headship, however, division heads don’t always have what boards and search committees want to see: a proven track record that demonstrates experience with a head’s key responsibilities, such as fundraising, strategic planning, and working with a board. Aspiring heads can take preparation courses, but nothing beats hands-on experience and demonstrated success.
So how might a school help division heads gain the experience that will support their career ambitions? Is there a way for schools to effectively and strategically leverage division heads’ skills, knowledge, and experience? My involvement with strategic planning and the capital campaign at Stevenson School (CA) proves there is, as I’ve recently been appointed to the headship at my school.
A New View
As is the case for many independent schools, particularly ones in areas with significant population growth and demographic shifts, Stevenson had outgrown its existing footprint, and its original buildings were starting to show their age. The school needed to deliver a campus master plan that would best position it in the highly competitive boarding school market. It became apparent that a new science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) center to serve the needs of the current and future student population and capitalize on the abundant resources in the local community would need to headline the next major capital campaign. If Stevenson could show that students were clamoring for more STEM opportunities, and that it had the faculty and school leadership in place to develop and deliver robust, challenging, and inspiring programs, then a more powerful fundraising case could be made. The first step was to recruit someone who could lead this work.
In 2017, the school sought an experienced division head with a proven track record of leading curriculum development and schedule change who also had a strong STEM background. As someone with post-doctoral research experience and several years as a K–12 science curriculum leader, and as a sitting division head at Catlin Gabel School (OR) who had stewarded a major schedule change and overseen the development and delivery of impactful curricular school initiatives, I fit the profile. Meanwhile, I was looking for a position that would allow me to apply what I had learned about planning, communication, and generating buy-in in the context of schedule and curriculum change and that would allow me to reach beyond the role toward a potential headship. Stevenson hired me to lead its significant programmatic evolution and offered me the chance to play a leading role in the design and construction of the biggest capital project in the school’s history.
Defining the Role
Within two years, I led the upper school through the adoption of a block schedule with class periods of suitable length for experiential learning and the elimination of finals weeks in favor of project-based assessment and real-world demonstrations of understanding. We overhauled the faculty goal-setting observation and evaluation process and redefined the department head role. Throughout this work, I applied what I learned in my first division head role to help set the stage for the school’s expanded vision.
As we geared up to launch the capital campaign in 2021, I regularly briefed the board with written and in-person updates on all the curricular and schedule changes, and I worked closely with the director of advancement, sharing frequent updates on curriculum changes to the entire advancement team. When the design process for the building began, I was at every meeting with the architects and general contractors, alongside the newly hired director of applied science and engineering, ensuring that the design met the programmatic needs. I also reported this information back to the full board and various subcommittees.
In fundraising conversations and meetings with key donors, those of us with the most knowledge of the program and experience delivering a STEM curriculum shared our perspectives and anecdotes about how a new building would drastically change the school’s ability to deliver a first-class education. Rather than try to convince benefactors to get behind a vision of what could be possible, we spoke in concrete terms about how their support would help. In each stage of the process, I gained more experience presenting to the board, learning the types of questions they would ask and collaborating with board members in a way that was not previously possible.
It is unusual to include a division head to this extent in a capital campaign. Those of us with divisional leadership roles mainly work on more internal-facing projects, such as curriculum development, teacher evaluation, and hiring. But feedback from board members, feasibility study consultants, and other key constituents confirmed that I provided important context and human stories. This was not only true for making the case for the science building but also for other components of the larger capital campaign, such as faculty housing assistance and nontuition financial aid needs. Division heads see the lived experience of students, families, and faculty members daily. They can share firsthand perspectives on the challenges that schools face. Donors want to know that their philanthropy will have a positive impact, and division heads can speak to the direct benefits of their support.
Lessons Learned
With this deep collaboration between the board, school president, advancement team, and the divisional academic leadership, Stevenson’s most ambitious capital campaign is off to a fast start, and we are optimistic that we can achieve our collective goals. We are still in the silent phase of the campaign, but I have presented our vision to several key potential donors and have spent valuable time with the director of advancement and the campaign committee chair (a longstanding board member) learning about the donor cultivation and stewardship process. Our compelling pitch to donors focuses on our commitment to growth and change and the concrete steps we’re taking to get there.
Through this experience I have gained invaluable insights and experience in school leadership while adding value to the campaign by helping the advancement team. While searching for a headship, I was able to speak in more concrete terms about strategic planning and fundraising, offering real-world examples of work I have done in these critical areas of school leadership.