Update – Dalton Head of School Search

Dear Dalton Community,

 

It is an honor and privilege to serve as Chair of the Search Committee for a new Head of School. The Dalton School is one of the finest institutions of its kind in the world. The process to select the next Head of School must be equal to Dalton's prestigious stature and history of excellence. So far, so good. Here is a quick overview of progress to date and the road ahead.

 

The Board of Trustees kicked off the search process in April with the hiring of world-renowned search firm, Spencer Stuart, and the formation of the Head of School Search Committee, whose seven members include current and former trustees and a faculty member. All members of the Search Committee are parents of Dalton students. The Search Committee created an Advisory Council to help build the infrastructure required to conduct a successful search process. The Advisory Council, led by Chair Joanna Stone Herman '88 (Alumni Council President, P '26, '26, '33), is composed of Dalton leaders who represent all Dalton community stakeholders.

 

Spencer Stuart developed a survey to help gather views from the Dalton community on the ideal characteristics of and priorities for the next Head of School. The Advisory Council conducted a survey outreach effort that generated a remarkable response; the Dalton community's participation rate far exceeded the expected rate for surveys of this nature. Joanna and I recently co-hosted two sessions to present the results of the survey. Those sessions were attended by over 400 Dalton community members—another impressive display of engagement.

 

The Advisory Council also conducted numerous focus group sessions to enhance the information-gathering process. The combination of the survey and focus groups generated deeply substantive insights upon which Spencer Stuart drew to craft the Head of School Position Specification document.

 

Some of the key characteristics and criteria that the Dalton community and Board of Trustees indicated they seek in our next Head of School include:

These are just a few highlights; you can download the full Dalton Head of School Position Specification here and it is posted on the Head of School web page. I encourage you to share the Position Specification with qualified prospects for the position.

Spencer Stuart and the Search Committee have been quite busy since Arch Day. Even before the new Head of School Position Specification was finalized, Spencer Stuart put the information gathered from the survey and focus groups to work and started the process of evaluating its extensive prospect network to identify possible candidates for the Dalton Head of School role. Spencer Stuart has also been collecting many Head of School candidate referrals from the Dalton community and we encourage you to continue to send your candidate recommendations to DaltonHead@spencerstuart.com.

In the coming weeks, Spencer Stuart will continue to conduct prospect outreach based on Dalton Head of School key criteria and review target prospect profiles with the Search Committee. Spencer Stuart and the Search Committee will meet with top prospects, leading to the selection of a finalist.

 

We are confident that our rigorous process will identify a great new leader for the Dalton School from an outstanding pool of candidates who embrace the opportunity to lead one of the world's top K-12 schools.

 

The Search Committee will have a busy few months. I expect to provide my next update to the Dalton community in the late fall. Until then, I wish you and your family a happy and healthy summer!

 

Sincerely,

 

Roy Swan P '17, '23

Search Committee Chair and former Trustee

 

Search Committee Members:
Josh Bachrach, Middle School English Department Chair, P '29, '31
Cheryl Cohen Effron '83, Former Trustee and Board President, P '18, '20, '23
Aly Sheezar Jeddy, Board President, P '19, '23, '23
Erica Klein, Trustee, P '28, '31
Dasha Smith, Former Trustee, P '24
Ashley Smyth, Trustee, P '24, '26, '29