About
Head of School Search
An Update from the Head of School Search Committee
February 9, 2024
Dear members of the Marymount community:
With the recent announcement that Jacqueline Landry will conclude her service at Marymount High School, the Board of Trustees has begun the process of the search for her replacement. The selection of the new Head of School is one of our most important responsibilities. In order to continue the outstanding work at Marymount, we will need to search for an exceptional individual who believes in our mission and shares a love for our students.
As noted in previous communications, we have selected Educational Directions of Portsmouth, Rhode Island as our partner in this most important endeavor. Educational Directions was founded in 1987 and is a highly respected national firm. The search will be led by Mathew Heersche and Risa Oganesoff Heersche, who will bring their expertise as educational leaders in Catholic education and as search professionals. They have a deep understanding of the California market as well, having spent their careers working in Catholic schools in California.
The Head of School search process will be an open and inclusive one. An important step is for Risa and Mathew to visit the school. The visit is scheduled for Wednesday, February 28th and Thursday, February 29th. The purpose of their visit is to learn as much as possible about and from our community and to identify the qualities sought in our next leader. Mathew and Risa will be spending time with members of various Marymount stakeholder groups and will be asking us key questions regarding Marymount, its future and this leadership opportunity, including:
From the information gathered through this process, Risa and Mathew, with the search committee, will develop a position profile to educate potential candidates about this outstanding opportunity. Once it is completed, the position profile will be shared with the Marymount community through the Head of School Search section on the school’s website, where all information pertaining to the search resides.
Our search professionals are recruiting from a diverse pool of candidates, and will be reaching out internationally, nationally and locally to individual educational leaders, executive directors of educational organizations, and other agencies, as well as including those who seek out this outstanding opportunity. Over the next months, they will be identifying and evaluating top prospects. Our goal is to identify a group of top-level candidates and select those whom the search committee will interview. From that group will come the finalists. There will opportunities for school community members to meet each finalist. After the search committee has completed its evaluation of all the data gathered (including deep reference checking) and deliberates, it will be presenting its recommendation to the Board of Trustees for its review and approval. Once this is complete, the Board will make an announcement regarding the new Head of School.
Our calendar calls for identification and engagement of the next Head of School for Marymount to be completed by the end of 2024. During the 2024-25 school year Marymount will be led by our interim Head of School, Dawn Regan.
There will be an organized transition process culminating in the new Head of School commencing work for the 2025-26 school year. We look forward to this next stage of the search process, and will keep the Marymount community informed as to its progress via regular updates.
Sincerely,
Rita Tuzon
Former Board Chair (2021-2023)
Trustee Emerita
Search Committee Chair
Back
With the recent announcement that Jacqueline Landry will conclude her service at Marymount High School, the Board of Trustees has begun the process of the search for her replacement. The selection of the new Head of School is one of our most important responsibilities. In order to continue the outstanding work at Marymount, we will need to search for an exceptional individual who believes in our mission and shares a love for our students.
As noted in previous communications, we have selected Educational Directions of Portsmouth, Rhode Island as our partner in this most important endeavor. Educational Directions was founded in 1987 and is a highly respected national firm. The search will be led by Mathew Heersche and Risa Oganesoff Heersche, who will bring their expertise as educational leaders in Catholic education and as search professionals. They have a deep understanding of the California market as well, having spent their careers working in Catholic schools in California.
The Head of School search process will be an open and inclusive one. An important step is for Risa and Mathew to visit the school. The visit is scheduled for Wednesday, February 28th and Thursday, February 29th. The purpose of their visit is to learn as much as possible about and from our community and to identify the qualities sought in our next leader. Mathew and Risa will be spending time with members of various Marymount stakeholder groups and will be asking us key questions regarding Marymount, its future and this leadership opportunity, including:
- What are the unique characteristics of Marymount High School, i.e. what differentiates it from other schools;
- What are the perceived challenges and opportunities for the school at this time; and
- What experience/leadership styles/personality traits will best meet those needs within our community?
From the information gathered through this process, Risa and Mathew, with the search committee, will develop a position profile to educate potential candidates about this outstanding opportunity. Once it is completed, the position profile will be shared with the Marymount community through the Head of School Search section on the school’s website, where all information pertaining to the search resides.
Our search professionals are recruiting from a diverse pool of candidates, and will be reaching out internationally, nationally and locally to individual educational leaders, executive directors of educational organizations, and other agencies, as well as including those who seek out this outstanding opportunity. Over the next months, they will be identifying and evaluating top prospects. Our goal is to identify a group of top-level candidates and select those whom the search committee will interview. From that group will come the finalists. There will opportunities for school community members to meet each finalist. After the search committee has completed its evaluation of all the data gathered (including deep reference checking) and deliberates, it will be presenting its recommendation to the Board of Trustees for its review and approval. Once this is complete, the Board will make an announcement regarding the new Head of School.
Our calendar calls for identification and engagement of the next Head of School for Marymount to be completed by the end of 2024. During the 2024-25 school year Marymount will be led by our interim Head of School, Dawn Regan.
There will be an organized transition process culminating in the new Head of School commencing work for the 2025-26 school year. We look forward to this next stage of the search process, and will keep the Marymount community informed as to its progress via regular updates.
Sincerely,
Rita Tuzon
Former Board Chair (2021-2023)
Trustee Emerita
Search Committee Chair
Marymount High School
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