Head of School Search

St. Francis Community: 

We want to take a moment to share an update on our Head of School search. The Search Committee is pleased to share that the response to the opportunity to be our next Head of School has been outstanding! Your constructive feedback and insight helped create a compelling position profile that has attracted a highly qualified group of candidates. This is a great reflection of St. Francis’s mission, community, programming, and the exciting opportunities ahead for our School. 

Our search firm, The Education Group (TEG), has been working diligently to identify, target, and process a very robust pool of candidates. In addition to this effort, every person that was recommended to the Search Committee and/or TEG has been fully vetted. In broad terms, this impressive applicant group is made up of sitting heads and senior administrators at Episcopal schools and other independent schools, locally and nationally. Each of these candidates has deep, demonstrated experience in executive school leadership and the experience, perspectives, and skills that could benefit our community moving forward. Equally important, these candidates show a clear, heartfelt interest in, and enthusiasm for, St. Francis and this opportunity. It is important to note that we are no longer accepting applicants for our permanent Head of School position as we have moved to the selection phase. 

After a careful review of the candidates, the Search Committee narrowed the pool to a group of highly qualified semi-finalists. As a Committee, we recently interviewed each of the semi-finalists and are excited to share that we’ve selected four finalists. The Search Committee is working diligently to bring the finalists to visit St. Francis in the coming weeks. Their individual visits will include campus tours and meetings with representatives from our community (teachers, faculty, parents, students, alumni, and vestry members). We will be able to share the names of the finalists as their visits are confirmed. 

We look forward to keeping you informed and involved in the continued stages of the search. In the meantime, we want to thank Don North for doing such a wonderful job as our Interim Head of School and our Search Committee for their invaluable investment of time and energy in this process.

Warmest regards,

Maggie Stacy
Chair, Search Committee
Vice-Chair, Board of Trustees

Rob Pierce
Chair, Board of Trustees

May 20, 2022

Dear St. Francis Community, 

We are pleased to share progress with you regarding the search for St. Francis Episcopal School’s next generation of leadership. We are excited to begin the important work of selecting a head of school who embraces our unique strengths as an independent faith-based school, is committed to passionately pursuing our school’s mission, and has the strategic vision to prepare St. Francis and our students for the future. I am pleased to announce that a search committee for the new head of school has been formed by the board of trustees and will begin its important work immediately. The search committee is chaired by board member Maggie Stacy and includes additional board members, Rev. Stuart Bates, Christina Blackwell ’95, Chris Graeter ’95, Sippi Khurana, Rob Pierce, and Mark Stringer ’89. You may read more about the committee members here. 

This committee will also be charged with selecting an interim head of school as it is important that we provide the time needed to conduct a thoughtful and thorough search. Appointing an interim head allows St. Francis to have access to a thorough slate of candidates interested in the position. 

Recognizing the significance of the process, the board selected The Education Group (TEG) following a review of several nationally recognized educational search firms. We were impressed by TEG’s 32 years of experience in executive searches, their collective understanding of Episcopal, parish schools, and their commitment to helping us create a collaborative and inclusive search process. The team from TEG—Bob Kirkpatrick, Peter Cheney, and Allison Lorimer—will assist the search committee in selecting St. Francis’s next permanent and interim head of school. You can read more about TEG here.

We look forward to engaging with the entire community in the search process. TEG will be sending a survey to our community to seek your feedback in what's needed and desired in our next head of school. They will also help us construct focus groups within our community to meet with our consultants and share feedback and opinions about the future leadership of St. Francis Episcopal School. Be on the lookout for search announcements via email and our website. The board is committed to keeping everyone informed throughout the process. 

With record enrollment numbers, excellent academic, athletic, and arts programs, and the inaugural graduating senior class, St. Francis Episcopal School is well-positioned to attract premier head of school candidates. We remain grateful to Amy Whitley for leading our school through this transition as Acting Head of School beginning June 1. 

Sincerely,

Webb Jennings 
Chair, Board of Trustees

May 6, 2022

Dear St. Francis Faculty and Staff,

Since we announced last week the departure of our Head of School, Steve Lovejoy, we have started to shape the process that will guide us in our search for St. Francis Episcopal School's next Head of School. 

We have begun to assemble a Head of School search committee that will be tasked with considering Head of School candidates as well as ensuring the process is collaborative with the SFES community. We have also begun the process of selecting a search firm who will help us secure a broad and diverse slate of candidates from across the nation. 

The committee will be engaged in something of a parallel process: We will identify an Interim Head of School to lead our community through the immediate future, while also working to identify a permanent Head of School to lead us for years to come. In the meantime, we are grateful that Amy Whitley has agreed to serve as Acting Head of School, effective June 1, while the committee selects and appoints an Interim Head of School. Ms. Whitley is a 25-year veteran of independent school leadership, the last five years of which she has been a fixture within our SFES community. We are grateful for her willingness to help lead our school during a time of transition, and we have full trust and confidence in her leadership. 

We will keep you posted at every milestone along the way, and we look forward to engaging with our community more closely as we secure the next generation of school leadership.

Sincerely,

Webb Jennings
Chair, Board of Trustees

Maggie Stacy has been an active member of St. Francis Episcopal School for 11 years as the parent of Carolyn ’26 and Wofford ’29. Her many roles include Parent Ambassador, room mom, team mom, and volunteer for Friends of Fine Arts and campus events. She has served on the Board of Trustees for three years as well as the Communications and DEI Committees. Maggie is the co-founder and principal of Brooks Stacy, LLC, a senior-level executive search firm.

Rev. Stuart Bates has been a fixture in the St. Francis community for more than two decades. His three daughters attended St. Francis from kindergarten through eighth grade, and he joined the Board of Trustees in 2006. For the past 15 years, he has served as rector of St. Francis Episcopal Church.

Christina Blackwell is a St. Francis Episcopal School lifer! She attended St. Francis from Primary School through eighth grade and is a long-time member of the Alumni Board and parent of two St. Francis students, Kennedy ’32 and Vivien ’36. Christina has held many leadership roles at St. Francis: she has served as Alumni Board president, as a member of the Woolrich Committee and Advancement Committee, and is currently chairing the Sporting Clays Classic. Christina’s newest role at St. Francis is as a member of the Board of Trustees, which she joined in August 2022. Christina is senior vice president and relationship manager at First Horizon Bank in the commercial real estate group.

Chris Graeter is also a St. Francis Episcopal School lifer! Chris attended St. Francis from 4 years old through eighth grade and has remained an active alum, serving on the Alumni Board and as president for one year of the Alumni Association. For 13 years, he was a St. Francis parent to Larkin. Chris is in his fifth year with the Board of Trustees; he previously served on the Finance Committee and currently chairs both the Communications and DEI Committees. He works in treasury/finance at Kinder Morgan. 

Sippi Khurana has been with St. Francis for eight years and is a parent to Shaan ’28 and Seva ’34. The 2022–23 school year marks her sixth year serving on the Board of Trustees; she also serves on the DEI and Advancement Committees. She is a rheumatologist and immunologist, and her private practice is affiliated with multiple hospitals in Houston.

Rob Pierce has been with St. Francis for five years as a parent to daughter Kaitlyn ’24 and son Kamren ’27.  He and his wife, Amy, have chaired the St. Francis Fund and are currently co-chairing the Forward in Faith, Phase II Capital Campaign. Rob began his term as Chair of the Board of Trustees in August 2022. Rob is managing director of TD Securities.

Mark Stringer has been a part of St. Francis Episcopal School for most of his life. He attended Middle School at St. Francis, is the parent of Dylan ’25 and Sarah ’27, and has served as a member of the Board of Trustees and the Finance Committee for seven years. Mark is a CPA and president of his family’s business, which focuses on real estate development, property management, and oil and gas exploration and production.