Sally Keidel returned to AIS after serving as Head of The Montgomery School, a PreK-Grade 8 school in Chester Springs, PA. During her six years as Head of School, Sally embraced the leadership opportunities and challenges inherent in heading a school, leading Montgomery through a visionary strategic plan, implementing a faculty evaluation system, and working closely with the Board of Trustees on a tuition-lowering initiative that led to significant enrollment growth.

Sally, who holds a master’s in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania, has enjoyed success in a variety of roles throughout her nearly 30-year career in education — from teacher, to director of residential life, to admissions director. Prior to assuming headship of The Montgomery School, she served as Assistant Head of The Agnes Irwin School from 2012-2014, as well as Director of Admission and Financial Aid from 2007-2014.

"During the search process, Sally impressed us with her clear vision for the future of our school and a love for this community that has never wavered," wrote former Board of Trustees Chair Ginny Sharp Williams ’88. "Confident, yet gracious, and a self-described 'connector,' Sally looks forward to reuniting with our community and leading us into our next 150 years."

Divider Wreath

Welcome to the 2025-26 school year! 

Dear Agnes Irwin Families,

We are immersed in final preparations for your daughter's arrival next week. The energy amongst the faculty is palpable. The schoolhouse is quieter over the summer (when we aren’t running summer camp) and we miss the enthusiasm and intellectual energy of our students. While I miss the students in the summer, one thing I love is the opportunity to tackle the large stack of books that builds up over the course of the school year. This summer, I read The Art of Gathering and it prompted me to think about the intentional decisions we make about how we engage with students and colleagues. From our opening of school assembly, to Parliament and grade level meetings, to the spirited AIS/EA Day pep rally, we have many opportunities to gather as a school community. With care and foresight, we ensure that these experiences enable each girl to feel that she is known, cared for, and part of something bigger than herself. 

This reading has also allowed me to think about entering this upcoming school year with a focus on empowering your daughters through both traditional and unique engagement opportunities - field trips, morning meetings, Special Studies Program offerings, assemblies and more. It is in this spirit of deliberate community and camaraderie that all of us at AIS consider how we create a distinctive Agnes Irwin experience in which our girls flourish, and our community expands. 

Academics and Generative AI at AIS
At the center of that distinctive experience lies our research-based, academic curriculum. Our Teaching, Learning and Innovation Team shared this perspective with AIS faculty and staff at a back-to-school meeting: 

“In a society characterized by uncertainty and rapid change, the ability to think creatively is becoming the key to success and satisfaction, both professionally and personally. For today’s children, nothing is more important than learning to think creatively–learning to come up with innovative solutions to the unexpected situations that will continually arise in their lives.” - Mitchell Resnick, MIT

It is through this “innovative solutions” and creativity lens that we are examining how best to respond to artificial intelligence technology and how it impacts our approach and processes. As part of the Summer Growth Grants at AIS, a team of educators gathered to review and upgrade our philosophy toward generative AI in our School to promote the exchange of ideas, and guide students to become active, responsible citizens in our global society. We are looking to maintain our students' fundamental abilities as creative and critical learners who cultivate a strong sense of interpersonal connections between people and their work while helping girls to incorporate the new opportunities that generative AI offers. 

As we engage in generative AI more regularly, we consider two important perspectives: preparing students to successfully navigate the world with generative AI, and ensuring our students are developing the important skills and dispositions of an AIS graduate. We want to move forward with the use of generative AI in ways that are future-oriented, empowering, and responsible while centering the students and capturing what they know, do, and understand for themselves. 

Strength in Marketplace
I am thrilled to share that once again this year, our enrollment has increased and we welcome our largest student body since 2015– 660 girls! This enrollment momentum reflects not only the strength of Agnes Irwin's reputation both locally and nationally, but also the increasing demand for the researched, carefully curated, and girl-centered education and experiences offered exclusively here at AIS, supported by a parent and alumnae community that is second-to-none. As we carry on the great traditions of more than 156 years, we are grateful for the trust families place in us, and remain committed to fulfilling our promise to empower each girl to learn, to lead, and to live a legacy.

Theme for the Year
As part of that promise, each year at AIS, we spotlight one of our Core Values, and this year we are centering on: Respect and Celebrate All. This value fuels a spirit of community and belonging for all in our AIS family. It serves as a North Star, guiding us to treat everyone with dignity and respect, welcoming differences in backgrounds, cultures, and perspectives, and fostering an inclusive environment where diverse voices are uplifted, contributions are celebrated, and community is cherished. In this environment, every girl can thrive!

Strategic Plan
We have embarked upon our fourth year of our five-year Strategic Plan, which sets an aspirational future for us and focuses our attention in important ways. We have been working hard to grow as an organization through four strategic commitments: 

Intellectual Curiosity
Personal Wellbeing
Authentic Inclusivity
Courageous Leadership
We have been actively working on the priorities in each area of the plan. For example, to enhance personal wellbeing and academic focus, last school year, we implemented a new cell phone-free policy across campus. This change, which followed a successful pilot program, supports students' academic focus during the school day and enhances girls’ community connections. The Strategic Plan has also led to several new opportunities, including the creation of an Upper School Internship Program and the introduction of career days for both Middle and Upper School students.

Accreditation Visit, October 2025
Along with our Strategic Plan, we are busy planning for our accreditation visit as part of our Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS) accreditation process. Every ten years, a PAIS accreditation team will visit campus to review our self-study report and share their commendations and recommendations for the future. It is designed to be a reflective experience that encourages reflection and we look forward to engaging our community in this process. We will welcome the accreditation team to our School October 26-29, and will keep you, our community, posted on our progress.

Home Field Advantage
Buzz is also mounting surrounding our two new turf fields! Despite a rainy summer, upgrades to the Phelps Field are now complete, with Carter Field close behind. Both fields feature high-performance, low maintenance turf–RootZone CD Series Astroturf for Phelps, and Paris GT Zero turf (a unique carbon-neutral field hockey surface) for Carter–both which elevate our student-athlete experience, and enable our Owls to train and compete almost exclusively on campus, on surfaces found at the college level. This truly takes our game to a new level.

Looking Ahead
Altogether, the school year already shows great promise here at AIS. Throughout the year, there will be many updates coming your way, including All-School Newsletters and bi-weekly news from the Director of your daughter’s specific division. These communications offer important reminders of how to stay engaged in your daughter's education and our thriving community at AIS, so please make time to review them. 

In the meantime, rest assured that we are honing our “art of gathering” every day, forging an inclusive, caring, and challenging environment where girls feel challenged, known, cared for, and where they belong.

It’s going to be another amazing year at AIS – welcome back!

Warmly,

Sally Keidel