It has been a busy few months for the Search Committee. We sincerely appreciate all of you who participated in the focus groups with our search consultants in November. Your candid comments and suggestions helped inform the “Information for Candidates,” a narrative of the strengths of school as well as the challenges and opportunities and the qualities we hope to find in our next Head of Schools. We had a lot of interest in the position from candidates throughout the US and internationally. The Search Committee reviewed the Head of Schools applications from our pool of outstanding candidates and unanimously invited seven candidates to interview as semi-finalists. After those interviews, we narrowed the pool down to four well-credentialed and outstanding candidates whom we have invited back for more extensive meetings and interviews with the Husky community. The Search Committee believes that each of the finalists has the range of skills and experiences we are seeking in our next Head of Schools. The selection of finalists was a thorough, thoughtful, and deliberate process held with careful attention to our community's diversity and inclusivity values.
Ideally, we would have preferred to invite candidates to meet in-person with all constituencies on campus, but in keeping with the LA County COVID19 guidelines, we could not do so. However, we have invited candidates to visit our schools where they will get a physical tour of our campus, visit virtual classes, and virtually meet with most faculty, staff, administration, staff, students, Trustees, and parents. Each of the four finalists will be on Zoom for separate two-day visits between February 18 and March 2. As was promised in previous messages, the entire Husky community will have an opportunity to meet these exceptional individuals. We will send you information on each candidate prior to their respective visit days. And we will also include a link to an online feedback form to share your observations on the finalists with the Search Committee.
We have selected four dates for candidates to visit us as finalists – February 18-19, 22-23, 25-26 and March 1-2. At this point, we are planning to have each candidate spend a day and a half with us, meeting with as many members of our school community as possible.
Parent sessions with each finalist will be held from 8-9 am on Friday, February 19 and Friday, February 26, and from 8:15 – 9:15 am on Tuesday, February 23 and Tuesday, March 2. The Search Advisory Committee will meet with each finalist from 5-6 pm on Thursday, February 18, Monday, February 22, Thursday, February 25, and Monday, March 1. Faculty, Staff, and Administration will be provided with a separate schedule for their respective meetings.
Prior to each candidate’s visit, we will send you an email with a brief biography of the candidate, the days and times when you will have an opportunity to “meet” the candidate, and a link to a survey for you to provide feedback on each candidate to the Search Committee. Please note that the survey link for each candidate will “lock” shortly after their visit as we want you to rate the candidate based upon their skills and experiences and not against another candidate. Therefore, you must submit your feedback within 24 hours of each candidate’s departure. After the final candidate’s visit, the Search Committee will convene to review the visits and the community feedback and will make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees on our next Head of Schools. The Board will then meet to review the Search Committee’s recommendation and make a decision and an appointment by mid-March.
I am very grateful to my fellow Search Committee members for the extraordinary amount of time and effort each has put into this important process thus far. I also wish to thank members of the Advisory Committee for their willingness to participate fully in the interviews of all 4 candidates. We are very excited about the finalists’ visits and feel we have very strong candidates who are well suited to be RHP, Renaissance and REACH’s next Head of Schools.
This is an exciting time for our community, and we look forward to your participation in welcoming the finalists and in the selection of our next Head of Schools. As was stated above, we will provide you with more details just prior to their respective visits. Meanwhile, if you have any questions, please feel free to email me at board@rollinghillsprep.org.
Sincerely,
Chloe Reid Boutelle
RHP Board Chair and Search Committee Chair
