Announcement Letter from the Board Chair, Catherine Miller
Search Timeline
In September 2011, Lucy Nazro announced that she would be stepping down as Head of School after a faithful 32 year tenure. Catherine Miller, Board Chair, thanked Lucy for her devoted service and announced the Board of Trustees search for an Interim Head of School to be followed by a subsequent search for a permanent Head of School.
In order to ensure a smooth transition and sustain the unique culture and strength of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, the first charge of the Search Committee was to find a nationally recognized and respected search consultant who would be the best fit for St. Andrew’s. In December, 2011, the Trustees announced the hiring of Margaret Huling Bonz, Ph.D. of Educational Directions as the search consultant for the Interim and permanent Head of School searches.
In February 2012, the Board of Trustees enthusiastically announced the appointment of Michael Eanes as the Interim Head of St. Andrew’s beginning on July 1, 2012, and distributed a news releasefor the broader public.
Appreciating the wisdom of the faculty, staff, family, friends, and alumni of St. Andrew’s, an email survey was distributed to the St. Andrew’s communityto gather input as part of the national search for a permanent Head of School. On April 11-12, Margaret Huling Bonz visited St. Andrew’s campuses to do further exploratory work with SAS faculty, students, parents, and alumni as part of the search process. She developed a school profile, used to communicate St. Andrew's essential qualities, along with important facts and figures, to potential candidates for the permanent Head of School position.
It was a busy summer and month of September. A letter was sent to the community detailing progress as of September 17th. Another letter was sent to the community on October 12.
On October 31st, Catherine Miller, Chairman of the Board, announced that the Board of Trustees has unanimously and enthusiastically selected Sean Murphy to be the next Head of St. Andrew's Episcopal School.
Sean has more than two decades of experience as a teacher, administrator, and, most recently, as Head of School at Palmer Trinity, an Episcopal school in Miami, Florida. A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sean earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and then returned to the southwest to begin his career at his alma mater, Albuquerque Academy, working there for 15 years as a teacher, coach, Dean of Students, and Upper School Head. During this time, Sean acquired a Masters of Arts degree in Great Books from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2000, Sean joined Oldfields School in Maryland for four years as an Associate Head of School and Interim Head of School, where he oversaw all the internal programs of the school including academics, athletics, student life, finances, and facilities.
During his eight-year tenure at Palmer Trinity, Sean increased faculty diversity, quality, and morale, along with assembling a leadership team of outstanding senior administrators. Always interested in programmatic excellence, Sean increased outreach and service projects, established unique environmental learning programs, enhanced the depth and breadth of the diversity initiatives, and increased academic standards at the school. Sean’s improvements yielded increases in the number and the caliber of applicants for enrollment. Additionally, he created an extensive internal and external communications program, established a mature development office, implemented financial sustainability programs and guided the production of a master site plan for the school.
We look forward to Sean's formal installation as Head of School in the fall of 2013.
Best regards,
Margie Gaudin and Kathryn Runnells
Search Committee Co-chairs