When I first walked into St. Luke’s School, I cherished the garden oasis; I was buoyed by the sense of joy and wonder, and I was inspired by living and learning in a spiritual community in the Episcopal tradition that strives to be audaciously welcoming and fiercely committed to equity and justice. All of that called me to St. Luke’s School, but I fell in love with the people: children who welcome each day with hope and aspiration, parents who are endlessly generous with their time and talents and partnership, and a faculty and staff who put serving the children and honoring our mission ahead of their personal interests. Love is transcendent, but time is distinctly bound by physics, and I write to share that I will retire at the end of the next school year, in June 2023, after 16 years of serving St. Luke’s School, a combined 28 years as a head of school, and more than 40 years in education.
We have accomplished great things together these past years, but the most important is that we have remained a community fiercely dedicated to serving children, united through our community standards, and bound in dedication to our mission. Because each of these characteristics lives within each member of our community, St. Luke’s School is well poised to navigate this next transition with confidence, clarity, and commitment. In short, St. Luke’s School will easily and smoothly transcend a change in head of school because the heart of the school beats within each of you.
As we have grown and changed, I have valued perhaps more what has remained constant: our commitment to academic excellence, partnering with parents to raise children in the light of integrity, honor and humility, and offering a community of welcome, acceptance, deep reflection, and growth. When I joined the school in 2007, we were a parish school of fewer than 200 students. Together, and with the partnership and support of The Church of St. Luke in the Fields, we have become an independent Episcopal school, expanded to 340 students, added 20,000 square feet of learning space, and will complete a five-year outdoor renovation in the fall when we walk onto our playfield. We have increased staffing, expanded arts, sciences, and learning resources, and institutionalized and deepened our commitment to diversity, equity, and justice.
Beyond that, we have laughed, celebrated, cried, and mourned together as any family does. I have been blessed with extraordinary leaders from the Board of Trustees, among the professional staff, and through the Church, each of whom has become a cherished friend, as have all of you.
Partnering with and serving St. Luke’s School has been one of the great joys and privileges of my life, and I am so much the better for it. I will continue to work with dedication and gratitude on behalf of the school and in service to our children for the next 15 months. And I will rest easy as I prepare for retirement with the knowledge that St. Luke’s School, unlike time, is transcendent, for we are grounded in principle, united in service, and inspired by the children who are our future.
