Head of School Announcement from the Board of Trustees
October 27, 2011
Dear members of The Blake School community,
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am thrilled to announce that Anne E. Stavney will be joining the Blake community as our next Head of School. Anne will succeed John Gulla, who will step down in June 2012 after having completed 14 remarkable years as Head of School at Blake.
Anne will be coming to Blake from the Lakeside School in Seattle, Washington – an independent day school with a national reputation for academic excellence, curricular innovations, diversity and inclusion initiatives, and global programs. A gifted educator and leader with more than 24 years of teaching and administrative experience, Anne currently serves as the assistant head of school and middle school director at Lakeside. Her work reveals a commitment to academic excellence and a track record of positive results. Her outstanding skills will serve Blake well as we continue to build on our strengths, working together to educate the next generation of Blake students.
The process of selecting Anne as the next Head of School included many in-depth conversations with her regarding the Blake culture, our programs and our priorities. During Anne’s visits to our campuses, Blake trustees, faculty, staff, parents and alumni were impressed by her intelligence, integrity, social conscience and compassion. As discussions advanced, Anne’s intellect and academic expertise, her teaching and administrative experience, and her collaborative and effective leadership style combined with her personal beliefs and educational philosophy clearly identified her as an ideal fit for Blake.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I thank the entire Blake community for your warm welcome to all of the candidates, your engagement and the widespread support for the search process. I wish to also acknowledge the exceptional work of my fellow search committee members Fo Burke ‘80, Martha Dayton, Ajay Gupta and Kate Mortenson and our leader, Chair-elect Michelle Keeley. My gratitude to this tireless team is endless. From day one with the implementation of the community survey, to the filtering of dozens of impressive resumes, the coordination of multiple candidate visits, numerous reference checks and the final evaluations – their work was thoughtful, thorough and committed.
Anne will be visiting our campuses several times over the course of the remaining school year and will be relocating to Minneapolis next summer with her husband, Dan, and 3-year-old daughter, Grace. Watch for more information about Anne, her family and plans for her induction into the greater Blake family later this spring.
In the meantime, please join me in welcoming Anne, Dan and Grace to our community.
Warm regards,
Elizabeth Winton
Chair, Blake Board of Trustees