Head of School Search Update: Candidates Coming to Campus
Dear CSS Community,
Happy New Year! We hope you enjoyed winter break and are excited for second semester at The Colorado Springs School.
The Head Search Committee worked diligently over the break to ensure we would be ready to hit the ground running this week around our Head of School search.
As we shared in our last letter, EduDx put together a wonderful search prospectus on our head of school position and cast a wide net across the United States and globally to find strong potential candidates. Our application deadline closed on December 27, 2019. Based on preliminary vetting, we had an active pool of 46 candidates. Twenty-seven of those yielded our high-potential candidate list. EduDx provided the Search Committee with comprehensive files on the best-fit candidates, including educational philosophy, video answers to four questions from the committee, and personal statements. A diverse pool emerged, including five female candidates and two people of color. Four candidates hold positions as current heads of schools, one is from higher education, four are assistant heads of schools, and five are division directors.
The Search Committee reviewed all submitted materials and met this week for three hours to discuss and deliberate. We have selected seven semifinalist candidates to interview in person on campus in the coming two weeks.
The National Association of Independent Schools recommended best practice for head of school searches is to keep the identities confidential until the finalist interviews. If you see interviewees on campus, please give them your best Kodiak smile and be sure to keep their candidacy confidential.
Each candidate will spend a half day on campus over the next two weeks (Jan 14-24). During their visit, they will tour campus, meet with the Administrative Team, the Advisory Committee, and participate in a 90-minute interview with the Head Search Committee.
The Search Committee will receive feedback and select three finalists who best fit the qualities and experiences sought by The Colorado Springs School. We will invite the finalists and their partners for a two-day visit in February.
During the finalist visit, they will meet with our larger CSS community, including students, faculty, staff, parents, past parents, administrators, alumni, and board members. We look forward to your participation in open Parent/Alumni forums during our finalist process. Following these forums, feedback links will be distributed electronically.
Finalist Visits - Save-the-dates; pending confirmation
Candidate One: February 3-4, 2020
Parent/Alumni Open Forum on February 3, 4:30-5:15 p.m.
Parent/Alumni Open Forum on February 4, 8:00-8:45 a.m.
Candidate Two: February 6-7, 2020
Parent/Alumni Open Forum on February 6, 4:30-5:15 p.m.
Parent/Alumni Open Forum on February 7, 8:00-8:45 a.m.
Candidate Three: February 10-11, 2020
Parent/Alumni Open Forum on February 10, 4:30-5:15 p.m.
Parent/Alumni Open Forum on February 11, 8:00-8:45 a.m.
Additionally, February 18-19, 2020 and February 20-21, 2020 will be considered for alternate or inclement-weather dates.
