On January 26th, Head of School Rachel Skiffer abruptly left the School after attending work the previous day. After her sudden exit, the School has been left to grapple with the sudden change, and many questions circulating they were left with few answers. As a result, new positions have opened up in the Upper School office, such as the logistics coordinator. Dean of Equity and Community Celso Cardenas said, “There has been a logistics coordinator position posted, with the idea of somebody really helping think about a lot of the heavy programming that we do”. Cardenas continues to talk about how this would alleviate pressure from other positions, stating that “oftentimes we have to pull people in who are already stressed and doing a lot of work, and being able to do graduation and thinking about the planning for fallout and other things”. With this in mind, Cardenas said whoever will take on the role of logistics coordinator will need to be “good at organization skills, event planning, and communication”, as well as “likely hired from in house, because we would like it to be someone who knows the pacing of the calendar, and what the traditions are”. With nothing set in stone, the School is making sure that any of the restructuring that happens is to “meet the needs of our students and families”, which assures the School’s community that all the changes made are absolutely in its best interest.
New information surfaced on March 18th during grade level meeting, where students learned about the changes that are now taking shape within the Upper School Deans system. Cardenas will be stepping into a newly created role as Upper School Dean of Equity, Community, and Student Life, expanding his current responsibilities to encompass student life as well. Alongside this shift, 11th grade dean and robotics teacher Bryan Jennewein will move into the role of Upper School Dean of Students for both 11th and 12th grades, and 12th grade dean and health teacher Hannah Niles will serve as Upper School Dean of Students for 9th and 10th grades. Jennewein says, “The opportunity to serve as dean for the 11th and 12th grades is such an exciting one, and I’m incredibly grateful for the chance to continue working with our community” Together, these changes reflect a broader restructuring of the Upper School Deans system as the School works to better define and distribute responsibilities across its administrative team.
Not only are there changes due to new people stepping into different roles, but next year’s schedule change and the new South Campus will play a factor as well. Cardenas says, “there are some opportunities to really bring in some important changes that can really even shift the culture here”, and “especially with the new schedule, there are opportunities for us to be intentional and thoughtful with advising and community time”. Jennewein affirms this by saying, “the transitions from 10th to 11th and 11th to 12th are such meaningful times full of growth, challenge, celebration, and big next steps.” Not only is the School changing internally, but also externally, with a greater focus on new opportunities that will impact our community.
The aftermath of Skiffer’s departure has left the School with some questions and confusion for future steps. The outlook that the administration has gives us no doubt that they are working hard to create new things from this change, whether that will be regarding the School’s culture or intentional student spaces. Nonetheless, members of the community should expect changes soon.