Dear members of the CVA community, 

We greatly appreciate all who provided invaluable feedback through our online survey—we had nearly 160 respondents from all areas of the community including current parents, alumni parents, and alumni; current and former trustees and employees; and friends of CVA. 

Your input, in addition to conversations with school leaders, has guided our development of the Information for Candidates (IFC) document. This comprehensive document provides potential candidates with an overview of CVA, an outline of the opportunities and challenges before us, and a profile of the skills and attributes we will look for in our next Head of School.

We would like to report back on what we heard from our community in the survey. Specifically:

• Most valued aspects of CVA are the balance of academics, athletics, and community membership (52%), winter sports program excellence (50%), and development of lifelong skills and personal values (47%).

• Priorities for the next Head of School include recruiting, retaining, and compensating high quality faculty and staff (54%), assuring financial stability and affordability (47%), and furthering athletic excellence (37%).

• Professional skills believed most important for the next Head include recruitment, retention, support, and management of faculty (63%), and leadership/management experience in an independent school (60%), and experience in a competitive snowsports environment (49%).

• Most important personal attributes include approachable, accessible, and collaborative (63%), honest, trustworthy, and transparent (50%), and engaging, motivational, and inspiring (35%).

We are pleased to share the IFC with you, which is circulated nationally and internationally as we utilize our extensive networks in the educational and athletic communities. As highlighted in the IFC, we are seeking a leader who enthusiastically embraces and champions the school’s mission of providing college preparatory academics and rigorous athletic programming, while instilling a strong sense of commitment to community. 

We encourage you to share information about this exciting leadership opportunity in your personal and professional circles. The IFC is available on the Educators Collaborative website as well as on LinkedIn and other relevant forums. Please direct any interested individuals to our consultant, Tracy Bennett (tbennett@educatorscollaborative.com), who will follow up directly. 



We will provide updates as our work progresses, and we appreciate your continued engagement. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions.

Warm regards,

Kevin Burns P ’04 and Peter Smith ’08, Search Committee Co-Chairs