Please see the two letters below for updates on our Interim Head of School, Head of School Search Firm, and more leadership updates during this transition year.
Dear Logan Community,
Here on the Logan campus, we are hustling to finish up our summer work in eager anticipation for the start of the school year. As summer winds down, I hope you are able to find some time to enjoy the last days of the season. I am looking forward to reconnecting with our staff as they return to the campus over the next few weeks and we begin our annual trainings, meetings and preparations.
I understand that many of you have been anticipating a follow-up from the announcement about Markus’ transition out of Logan. Change and surprises come in many different shapes and sizes, and are often unforeseen. We appreciate your patience as we worked through our plan and prepared a thorough community update.
This summer, I have been in the role of Acting Head of School while Markus was on his planned sabbatical in June and July. Since his announcement, I have been working closely with our Board to lay out a plan that affirms continuity of leadership. I am happy to now share that I have accepted the role of Interim Head of School for the 2022-2023 school year while we conduct a formal search process for a new Head of School. Please know that there will be plenty of opportunities for you to engage in the search process and we will keep you informed as that process unfolds. Our goal is to have a new Head of School in place next summer. More soon on that topic – please see the letter below from Sarah Bridich, our Board Chair.
Apart from the shift in my professional role at Logan for the coming year, I had the (not so fun) surprise of being diagnosed with breast cancer in May. As I write this, I am more than half-way through my chemo treatments and will finish those in September. In mid-October I will be having surgery to remove any remaining cancer and will be out in recovery in the weeks following surgery. I share this health news with you not because it is necessarily newsworthy, but because I don’t want any additional surprises for our community. The Board is very aware of my diagnosis and health plan, and have been working with me to create good systems and supports for the school while I am in recovery and to enable me to take the time needed to heal.
While I would never say I am glad to have cancer, every one of us is handed challenges in life and this is mine. This diagnosis has been a reminder that I have an amazing support system of people in my life and that has been very humbling. I want to assure you that I will continue to stay closely connected to the students, faculty and families this year, despite any health constraints.
In my 10 years at Logan, I have been lucky enough to work in many different roles- associate teacher, core teacher, and then Dean. I worked closely with Patti McKinnell, our founder, and have been a part of several leadership transitions at Logan. In these last few weeks, we have been building a support team to help us ensure a successful year for our students. We have an incredible amount of expertise on our staff (both old and new!) and this year has delivered a wonderful opportunity to harness the talents and skills of our teams and redistribute leadership to reinforce our net and grow our people.
Logan is ready for these challenges and I am honored to be at the helm with this extraordinary community of learners. We have a Board who will be behind us every step of the way, a staff who raises each other up and steps in to help at every turn, and all of you, our families, who I know will lean in and come together to support each other and our delightful school.
I know that your children may have lots of questions about this new information and I appreciate you sharing it with them. I’ve created a list of questions that my daughters have asked and I hope the answers are helpful.
I invite you to reach out if you would like to talk. Please understand that it may take a few days for me to respond but I will get back to you to schedule a time as soon as I can.
~ Shae
***********************
Dear Logan Community,
I am delighted to confirm the good news that Shae Schneider shared in her letter: the Board offered and she has accepted the role as Logan’s Interim Head of School for the 2022-23 school year. We are so lucky to have this very talented educator leading our school during this transition year.
As you no doubt also saw, this year will be a particularly challenging one for Shae, personally and professionally. The Board of Trustees’ Executive Committee has been working closely with Shae to ensure that she will be able to prioritize her health, well-being, and recovery while also serving as Logan’s Interim Head of School. We are mindful that this is a tall task. To that end, and for this transition year only, a number of our remarkable faculty and staff members have agreed to take on additional duties or pivot in their roles for this year. Below is a list of these changes:
We believe that these roles will provide support for Shae, our students, faculty, parents, and entire community as we all navigate this transitional year.
At the same time that the Board is working with Shae to create a great upcoming school year, we are also looking to the future. To that end, the Board has vetted a number of Head of School Search Consulting Firms and I am thrilled to share that we have hired Jerry Katz from RG175 to lead our Head of School Search, with the intention of having a new Head of School begin on July 1, 2023. Please stay tuned for additional information about the Head of School Search Committee, the timeline for this entire process, and the ways in which our community will be invited to participate in this exciting opportunity to select our next Head of School.
Finally, Shae is working closely with consultant Shalena Broadnax of Work Renewed to hire our next Director of Finance and Operations as we seek to find a great individual to fill Keryn Englehard’s metaphorically large shoes.
As always, should you have any questions about these changes or the upcoming Head of School search, please reach out to me at: Board@theloganschool.org.
With gratitude,
Sarah Bridich
Board Chair
