May 12, 2022
Dear Friends,
Since 1995, Ed Marshall has steadfastly served Greene Street Friends School, its students, its families, and its faculty and staff. As a Board, we deeply appreciate his long-term commitment to Quaker education, racial equity, belonging, and inclusion, and how a school in the heart of Germantown navigates our special place in the region. Ed has always said that he looks at Greene Street Friends School as a model school, and we truly would not be that school without his vision and commitment to its success.
Regretfully, for family medical reasons that have emerged very recently, Ed has to pull back from his full role as Head of School. As a result of his new situation, Ed has further determined that the best course of action is for him to step down from his role as Head of School by June 30, 2023.
The Board is supportive of Ed’s decision to prioritize the needs of his family and we are working closely with him and the Senior Leadership Team to plan for a smooth transition. We will all come together as a team to ensure continued strong outcomes for Greene Street Friends School during this transitional period.
Ed has provided visionary leadership at the School for nearly three decades. When Ed first began his career, he was Kindergarten and science teacher at another Quaker school, and later joined Greene Street Friends School as a Board Member. It was soon thereafter when the Board recruited Ed to lead the school. At that time, Greene Street Friends enrolled approximately 175 students, and there was one class in each grade from PreK-8th, with a couple multi-grade classrooms. Compare that with today, a robust student population of 350, and each grade has two classes - wow! And enrollment growth is just the beginning of Ed’s accomplishments at Greene Street Friends.
Throughout his tenure at GSFS, he literally and figuratively developed a foundation and supporting structure for teaching children: the new Armat building was built, a school counselor and learning specialist were hired, a Student Support Team was established, a Horizons program was launched, a renovation of Hargroves was completed, the property at Schoolhouse Lane and Greene Street was purchased and converted to a rain garden and faculty parking lot, the tree lab park was donated and renovated, the Citizens Bank Building was purchased, and its parking lot converted into a playing field. We look forward to celebrating the many accomplishments of his tenure.
We are excited for the future of Greene Street Friends School. The Board is in the process of forming a search committee to ensure a participatory and transparent search process for the GSFS community. The committee will be looking for input from all facets of our community and I hope you will engage with us in the process. The committee will engage an executive recruiting firm to conduct a national search for a new Head of School to start in July, 2023. The committee and search firm will be charged to engage broadly with all of the constituencies at GSFS, ensuring a wide range of input, in order to select the candidate who will best lead the school into its next chapter. We look forward to you, our school community, joining us in that process.
In great appreciation for Ed and his commitment to Greene Street Friends School,
Chris
Chris Mohr
Clerk, GSFS Board of Trustees
