Blake has appointed Carly Andrews as the next Director of the Early Learning Center (ELC). She will begin her position on July 1.

Andrews is currently Executive Director of the Alliance for Early Childhood where she designs and leads professional learning for early childhood educators, parents, schools and community organizations. She comes to Blake with deep administrative leadership experience in independent schools. She has served as Head of School at Baker Demonstration School (for grades PK-8) near Chicago, as Head of School at Willowwind School (for grades PK-6) in Iowa City, and as Assistant Head of School and Middle School Head at Bosque School (for grades 6-12) in Albuquerque.  

While Andrews’ teaching career spans elementary through high school, her years at Baker Demonstration awakened a deep fascination with early childhood and primary grade education. That passion led her to pursue a doctoral degree in Child Development at Loyola University Chicago, in partnership with the Erikson Institute. Her research focused on how belonging and friendship support children’s intellectual and social development. She earned a B.A. and M.A. at Middlebury College in English Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.