February 8, 2022
As promised during the State of the School meetings last month, we wanted to provide the community with a progress update concerning the Head of School search process that is underway.
The Process
On January 11, 2022, the MCS School Board, under the leadership of Sister Marie Therese Long, President of MCS and myself, David Jeter, MCS Board Chair selected the following people to serve as the Head of School Search Committee:
- Larry Rooney – Chair of Buildings & Grounds Committee and Monte parent of 1st and 3rd graders
- Sister Julia Marie Roy – Monastic Council, Director of Mission Integration
- Sara Barry – Monte parent, Past Board Chair, previous search committee member, Monte parent of an 8th grader
- Tracie Kutmas – Director of Finance and Operations and Monte parent of PreK-4 and 5th graders
- Caitriona Harris – Leader of Learning Initiatives (REACH, Camp Monte, Beyond the Bell)
- David Jeter – Board Chair and Monte parent of 4th and 6th graders
We recognize that the selection of the new Head is one of the most important responsibilities of the Board of Directors and that we want an exceptional individual who believes in our mission and shares a love for our students. The first action in the process was to identify and engage a search firm to assist us in this all-important task. The search committee has spent the last few weeks interviewing search consultant firms from across the country and in our local region who specialize in Head of School placement services. We are excited to announce today that the committee has selected Education Directions (EduDx) and their Catholic Search Team led by Matt and Risa Oganesoff Heersche. Educational Directions was founded in 1987 and is a highly respected national firm. Mathew and Risa bring deep experience, as educational leaders in Catholic education and as search professionals, as well as expertise and enthusiasm to our search. In addition, they have worked with a wide range of sponsored Catholic schools in their search for new leadership and are very familiar with how the values of a religious community inform the life of the school as well as the unique governance and leadership structures.
EduDx and the search committee will kick off the formal search process which will include surveying the entire Monte community and stakeholders for input regarding the next leader of the school. Your input during these next few weeks in invaluable so please look out for the communications and survey information.
Once a pool of qualified and interested candidates are identified, EduDx and the committee will begin conducting interviews and ultimately will have a finalist group for the Board of Directors and Monsatic Council to consider.
The Projection
While we are certainly looking forward to meeting who will become our new Head of School, our greater priority will be to honor the process and select the right person for our community. This will take some time and we hope you trust this team will select someone who will carefully build on the great progress we have made over the last several years.
Rest assured the school is in an incredibly strong position with great momentum and this Head of School transition will not change our trajectory. The Senior Staff and Board of Directors work very well together and intend to manage this transition with minimal disruption to our students’ growth and day to day operations.
We are also currently developing a plan should we need to appoint an interim Head of School if the search extends into the summer. Finding the right person who aligns with our school’s values is more important for the long term than making a quick hire.
Going forward
We will post a Head of School Search Update on the myMonte Resource Board soon. This letter will be posted there for your reference. In the meantime, if you have any questions about the search, please contact the Search Committee Chair, Larry Rooney, LRooney@manhattanconstruction or me.
Thank you again for your support!
David Jeter
MSC Board Chair