Blake community members are invited to offer their perspectives on the Head of School search and aspirations for Blake’s future through this survey, which is open until 8 a.m. (CT) on Wednesday, Jan. 29.  

Survey responses will help the search committee understand the priorities and opportunities for Blake and the new Head of School. Survey results will also help Blake’s search partner, Carney, Sandoe & Associates (CS&A), create a Head of School position statement.  

You may contact the search committee with comments or questions at hossearchcommittee@blakeschool.org.

From Board of Trustees Chair Chris Smith

Dear Members of the Blake Community,

With deepest gratitude and appreciation for our Head of School’s outstanding leadership, the Board of Trustees recently accepted Dr. Anne Stavney’s decision for the 2025-26 school year to be her final one at Blake.

Over the past 13 years, Anne’s educational vision, strategic leadership and deep wisdom have raised Blake’s profile as a leading independent school in the nation. She has ensured that our school’s progress is always linked to our mission, to best practices in teaching and learning and to our students’ intellectual and social-emotional growth. Her expert stewardship will leave Blake in an exceptionally strong position with a brilliant future ahead.

Since joining Blake in 2012, Anne has overseen a doubling of the school’s endowment and a transformation of teaching, learning and community spaces. Through the largest campaign in Blake’s history, Anne helped raise $80 million for endowment and capital funding, including the school’s single largest gift to date. Blake undertook seven capital projects during Anne’s tenure, including the Ankeny Center for Science, Design and Research at the Northrop campus and the Dining Commons, Entry Hall and the Early Learning Center on the Blake campus.

Anne has also profoundly increased access to a Blake education. During her tenure, she has been passionately committed to increasing the school’s financial assistance budget for not only tuition but also out-of-classroom expenses, so all students can participate in the full Blake experience. More than doubling the school’s scholarship endowment—from $4 million to $9.5 million—has made it possible for 50% more students to receive financial assistance for tuition and other educational expenses.

Anne has taken to heart Blake’s commitment to pluralism—when people of diverse identities energetically engage with each other and learn from each other—and has worked assiduously to increase diversity and heighten pluralistic values. Over the past decade, Blake’s diversity has increased across every community group: students, faculty, staff, administrators and trustees. Equally important, Blake has strengthened its pluralistic commitment by prioritizing effective communication, respectful interaction, and powerful learning between and among people of different cultures and life experiences. During Anne’s tenure, Blake established the annual Intercultural Competence Professional Development (ICPD) day for Blake faculty and staff; wrote and published the Lexicon for Pluralism; created the position of PK-12 chair for equity and instruction; and formed a board committee on pluralism.

A few examples help illustrate the breadth and depth of curricular and programmatic transformation that Anne has led. Under her leadership, Blake developed a proficiency-based PK-5 Spanish program; created a PK-12 computer science department and Middle and Upper School computer science courses; established the PK-12 director of learning support services position and a school-wide learning support program; built the current global programs model; reimagined the faculty performance review system; added substantially to faculty professional development funding; and created a faculty summer curriculum grant program in which more than 75% of the faculty annually participate.

I would like to take a moment to recognize two particularly consequential acts of service Anne has contributed to our school. She and her team steered Blake through the global pandemic. Her steady hand, informed decision-making, clear communication and unwavering commitment to student learning brought the school through that incredibly challenging time, and we emerged even stronger. Additionally, Anne worked with the Board of Trustees to envision and strategize the Lower School unification and with countless others to execute the plan successfully. This vital restructuring sets up the entire school to deliver on its mission for the next century.

Over the past 13 years, Anne has led Blake with integrity, thoughtfulness and insight. In announcing her plans as early as she has, we will have the benefit of her continued leadership for the next 18 months, giving the board ample time to conduct a full and thorough Head of School search, which is already underway.

While Anne will be an incredibly hard act to follow, we know the exceptionally strong fundamentals she has cared for and cultivated in Blake over all these years—the skill and devotion of its teachers, staff and administrators, its thoughtfully developed systems, policies and procedures, and its outstanding and inspiring students—will attract to Blake another extraordinary leader.

Anne’s reflections on today’s announcement are in her note below. In the year ahead, we will have many opportunities to recognize and thank her for all she has done for our community. At this time, the Board of Trustees wants to express our deep gratitude to Anne for her unending dedication to Blake. Blake is in a very strong position to attract a talented new leader drawn from a national pool of candidates. In the coming week, we are excited to provide the community with details about the Head of School search process.

Sincerely, Chris Smith, Chair
Blake Board of Trustees

From Head of School Anne Stavney

Dear Members of the Blake Community,

It was October 2012 and the 5-year-olds were wielding knives. Sharp knives. And they were cutting up fruit. Others were measuring pancake ingredients. Still others were writing and illustrating breakfast menus: fruit salad, pancakes and apple juice. The Pre-K Cafe was to host its grand opening the following morning, and our 4- and 5-year-olds were running the show. Hovering close by (and having shown the students how to use the knives safely), the teachers knew the students were capable. Because the teachers believed in them, the students believed in themselves. That’s the Blake I discovered when I began my work as Head of School.

As you know from Chris Smith’s very kind note, the 2025-26 school year will mark my 14th and final year as Head of School at Blake. It has been a remarkable experience and an honor to lead Blake—a dynamic, vibrant school that lives out its mission in every classroom, morning meeting, assembly, field trip, athletic team, orchestra recital and theatrical performance. At Blake we focus on the students and the student experience. I believe in that, and I am proud of that.

Few educators and school leaders have the opportunity to work with such curious and capable students; talented and passionate faculty; effective and dedicated staff; gifted and tireless administrators; and insightful and supportive trustees. I am grateful for the opportunities I have received throughout my tenure at Blake, for the meaningful partnerships we have forged, and for what we’ve accomplished together.

I look forward to next year. We will continue to guide the evolution of our curriculum and programs. We will continue to invite exceptional students and families to join Blake. We will continue to hire outstanding educators who are passionate about working with students. And we will continue to make good progress on Vision 2030, our strategic framework for Blake

What about those 5-year-olds who were running the Pre-K Cafe when I visited their classroom 13 years ago? When they walk across the commencement stage in June 2026, I will hand them their Blake diplomas and like the 13 graduating classes who have gone before them, I will congratulate them on a job very well done. Working with all of you to help students learn, develop, grow, change and become the people they were meant to be is why I have loved my time at Blake.

I am excited about Blake’s future through June 2026 and in the decades to come.

Best regards,

Anne Stavney, PhD
Head of School