letters from the interim head of school and the board president


Regaining Momentum Kathy Layendecker, Interim Head of School


resources, and it also involves going out into the world to listen to the people who have been working on the problem. The students synthesize what they have learned through writing, a tool for understanding as well as a vehicle for communicating with others. During the past school year, the trustees and administrators at OES have used the same


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process as we explored who we are as a community and where we need to go as a school. Like the students, we did not have the answers to our questions, but we knew where to find the answers. We studied where we had been, using our strategic plan as a guide. And then we listened. We set up a number of sessions in which community members could tell us what is important to them about the school and how they think it could be better. I have held numerous parent coffees and have spoken with countless parents, faculty, staff, students and alums about issues that are important to them. The faculty and staff assembled in groups to affirm the things we do well and assess the things we can do better. The Visioning Steering Committee has met many times to discuss and summarize the vast amount of


information and opinions that were received during this process. The members of the committee synthe- sized the hopes and dreams of the community and crafted a succinct vision statement to guide us as we seek to live out our mission as a community, as a school, and as individuals. That statement is explained in a story and illustrated in a pull-out poster in this issue. I would like to thank everyone who participated in this process and especially those members of the


Visioning Steering Committee who brought together so many points of view and focused them on the future. Thanks to you, we are ready to continue our work with the renewed enthusiasm that comes from having a clear vision of the path ahead of us.


Next Step: Finding a Leader Steve Grant, President, Board of Trustees


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he priority for OES this fall will be hiring a new head of school. That process was delayed by the need for dialogue between the Board of Trustees and community members about their hopes for the future of the school. It was important to achieve some degree of


consensus about our vision for the school before selecting and interviewing candidates for the top position. We needed to articulate for ourselves who we are and where we are going so that we can identify the leader who can take us where we want to go. Through the listening sessions and the subsequent work by the Visioning Steering Committee,


we have identified the features of an OES education that are crucial to the school’s role in the 21st century. That vision, which is elucidated elsewhere in this magazine, gives us a roadmap that we can follow as we select a leader. To that end, a selection committee has been chosen with representation from the Board, faculty, parents, and alumnae/i. That committee has employed an executive search firm that specializes in independent schools, and this summer the members are reviewing the portfolios of prospects, selecting semifinalists, and conducting initial interviews. As the head search progresses, community involvement will be key. Committees of parents, staff, faculty,


and administrators have been set up to give input to the selection committee, and these groups also will be involved in interviewing semifinalists and finalists. Open forums will allow any member of the community to meet the finalists before a selection is made. The process has been long, but I am convinced that it is necessary to bring us a leader with the talents and values and staying power to lead OES in fulfilling our collective vision for this exceptional school.


2 OES MAGAZINE SUMMER 2010 2


ES students do not know all the answers, but they know how to go about finding the answers. First they think about the questions, and then they explore what is known about the issue. That exploration takes the form of studying books and electronic


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