Dear Agnes Irwin Families, Alumnae, and Friends,

With gratitude and deep appreciation, I have accepted Head of School Dr. Wendy Hill’s decision to retire in June 2020 at the conclusion of our Sesquicentennial Celebration. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to thank Wendy for her commitment, leadership, and enduring stewardship of The Agnes Irwin School.

When Wendy arrived in 2014, we had just completed our $40 million Dare to Do More campaign, which supported the construction of our Student Life Center, new athletic facilities, contemporary classroom spaces, and state-of-the- art Innovation Center. While it may have seemed that the hard work was behind us, Wendy was forward-thinking, recognizing the need for a bold Strategic Plan to chart the course for the school’s future. In partnership with the Board of Trustees and the Strategic Planning Committee, Wendy synthesized the aspirations of more than 1,300 members of our community into Leading Girls’ Education, our Strategic Plan for 2016-2021, now in its third year of implementation.

Strong academics have been at the heart of Wendy’s tenure. As the first chair of neuroscience at Lafayette College, Wendy brought her teacher-scholar leadership style to AIS in service to the educational experience of the PreK through Grade 12 girls in her care. Knowing that immersive and engaging learning experiences provide the foundation for girls’ future successes, Wendy oversaw the school’s reimagining of our curriculum with a focus on project-based, student- centered learning in order to best prepare our graduates for college and beyond. She formed the iTeam, dedicated to integrating innovative technologies and methodologies into every classroom and cross-disciplinary project, and which helped secure a prestigious Edward E. Ford Foundation Grant. She bolstered the efforts of our Center for the Advancement of Girls to create girl-centered programs and partnerships that extend classroom learning into real-world experiences for our students. And in order to make these visions a reality, Wendy facilitated the development of a Campus Master Plan, and the purchase of 672 Conestoga Road, to allow for additional classroom spaces.

With all of these accomplishments, Wendy still finds the time to be back in the classroom with our girls. Students in all divisions love learning from Dr. Hill during her special guest lectures and labs. Whether she’s teaching an SSP on the neuroscience and legal ramifications of the opioid crisis, leading a sheep brain dissection, sharing her field experiences studying birds in the wild with middle schoolers, or, like last week, talking to the kindergarteners about the life cycle of chicks, Wendy is the quintessential educator.

We are grateful that Wendy has given us ample notice of her plans to retire at the culmination of her sixth year with us so that we may conduct a thoughtful and thorough search for our next Head of School. As a first step, I am pleased to announce that members of the Board of Trustees, Pat Coyne P’14, ’17, ’19, and Anne Ford P’30, have agreed to chair the Search Committee. As always, we will solicit input from all constituencies and are committed to keeping the AIS community informed throughout the process.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to thank Wendy for her dedication to our school and the diligent work she has facilitated to prepare Agnes Irwin for our next 150 years. Throughout the next year we will have many opportunities to honor the accomplishments of Dr. Hill and thank her in person. I would personally like to share my sincere gratitude for the countless hours and deep commitment she has given to the girls and our school since her arrival. We have been fortunate to have Wendy leading Agnes Irwin, and the Board of Trustees and I have had the privilege of working alongside her.

Fortunately, Wendy will be Head as we embark on our historic celebration of 150 years of outstanding all-girls’ education at The Agnes Irwin School. It is a time for us to reflect on the accomplished AIS women who have come before us, with an eye towards the future, and the girls who have yet to walk through our doors.

With gratitude,

Ginny Sharp Williams ’88, P’20
Chair, Board of Trustees

By now you have heard that Dr. Wendy Hill will conclude her tenure as the 13th Head of The Agnes Irwin School at the end of the 2019-2020 school year. We are honored to be leading the effort to select our next Head of School on behalf of the Board of Trustees. As parents and trustees who care deeply about Agnes Irwin, we are committed to ensuring its bright future.

Throughout the past several weeks, we have been working closely with Board Chair Ginny Sharp Williams '88 to appoint a committee to lead our search process. The Search Committee has the responsibility – with significant input from all constituencies within our community – to identify a successor Head of School to be presented to the full Board of Trustees for approval. We are extremely grateful to this committee, which includes current parents in all three divisions, alumnae from four different decades, along with faculty and staff members who were recommended by division heads.

Head of School Search Committee

• Pat Coyne – Search Committee Co-Chair, Trustee, Parent of Emily ('19), Caroline ('17), and Sara ('14)
• Anne Ford – Search Committee Co-Chair, Trustee, Parent of Evelyn ('30)
• Elena Bertrand – Mathematics Department Chair and Upper School Math Teacher
• Sandy Crockett '77 – Trustee
• Taliba Foster '88 – Trustee, Parent of Nahla ('23)
• Janet Bartholdson Fry '06 – Middle School History Teacher
• Andrew Kress – Trustee, Parent of Annabelle ('22) and Lola ('25)
• Tien-Yueh Kubach – Trustee, Parent of Emiko ('27) and Kiyoko ('29)
• Sean McCarthy – Incoming Trustee, Parent of Elizabeth ('18), Kaitlyn ('20), Sarah ('23), and Emily ('26)
• Megan McHugh – Associate Director of Lower School Admission and Outreach
• Susan Hirtle McEvoy '00 – Incoming Trustee, Parent of Eva ('31)
• Rory McNeil – Trustee, Parent of Libby ('19)
• Erica Shippen '99 – Literacy Specialist and Coordinator of Lower School Student Support Services
• Merritt Weber – Trustee, Parent of Peyton ('19)
• Ginny Sharp Williams '88 – Board Chair, Parent of Cheney ('20)

We are also grateful to have two members of our community with significant relevant academic and administrative experience who have agreed to serve as Emeritus Advisors to the Search Committee throughout our process:

• Mr. John A. Fry – Trustee and President of Drexel University
• Dr. Priscilla Sands '65 – Parent of alumna, Head of the Marlborough School in Los Angeles, CA

This dedicated group is fully committed to finding an outstanding leader who possesses the right combination of experience, interpersonal skills, energy, intellect, and vision to serve as the 14th Head of The Agnes Irwin School. We are delighted that they have graciously agreed to offer their time and insights.

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To help guide the search process, the school has retained Storbeck/Pimentel & Associates, a national executive search firm with a distinguished history of successful independent school searches, including Agnes Irwin's most recent searches for Assistant Head of School and Lower School Director. Shelly Storbeck, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Ethan Dubow, Principal, and Lisa Solinsky, Associate, will lead the search team. Shelly, Ethan and Lisa have a combined 40 years of experience dedicated to education searches and all have previously worked in faculty or staff positions at independent schools.

The search process will be inclusive and robust. There will be multiple opportunities for parents, faculty, staff, alumnae, and students to provide input on the priorities for our school and ideal qualities for the next head of school. In the upcoming week, Storbeck/Pimentel, along with members of the Search Committee, will hold a series of meetings with the above-mentioned constituencies. These focus group sessions will engage the Agnes Irwin community to share ideas about the future direction and leadership of the school. Further information and details will be provided in the near future. The Search Committee will then develop a position description, which we will share with you and will ultimately be used to recruit outstanding candidates.

We will be regularly communicating updates throughout the search process and have a dedicated webpage at agnesirwin.org/HOSsearch where you can access up-to-date information. Our goal is to be as open and transparent as possible. However, we have been advised by Storbeck/Pimentel and others that we may need to honor requests to work confidentially with candidates to ensure that we recruit and interview the most talented leaders. While some details must remain confidential, we intend to keep the community apprised of our progress.

We encourage you to share comments, questions, and thoughts at headofschoolsearch@agnesirwin.org. You can also share ideas of outstanding prospects with us at AISHeadofSchool@storbecksearch.com.

On behalf of the Search Committee, we thank you for your interest, support, and enthusiasm for this important endeavor for Agnes Irwin. We urge you to participate as much as you can, as we hope to make this process inclusive for our community.

Warm regards,

Anne Ford and Pat Coyne

Thank you to all who participated last week in the focus group sessions with our search consultants from Storbeck/Pimentel. Shelly Storbeck, Lisa Solinsky, and Ethan Dubow were on campus for two days and met with a wide variety of parents, alumnae, students, faculty, and staff. They gathered valuable insights into what makes our Agnes Irwin community special and what qualities we are seeking in our next Head of School.

We want to ensure that we capture feedback from all members of our community who wish to participate. To that end, please [click the link emailed to you] to participate in a brief online survey. The survey asks the exact same questions that were posed in the focus group sessions. It should take no longer than 10-15 minutes to complete and will remain open until Monday, July 1. All responses to the survey are both confidential and anonymous and will go directly to Storbeck/Pimentel. The information from this online survey, along with feedback from the focus groups, will help us craft a position statement and inform the interview process for our next Head of School.

We have also formed an Advisory Committee to help guide our process. The members of this Committee have a strong legacy of involvement with and understanding of our Agnes Irwin community. We are delighted that they have agreed to lend their insights.

The Advisory Committee includes:

• Susan Burch – Trustee, Co-Head of the Previous Search Committee, Current and Past Parent
• Anne Fritchman Hamilton '74 – Trustee Emerita, Past Parent
• Anita L. McMullin '81 – Trustee, Co-Head of the Previous Search Committee
• Ann Laupheimer Sonnenfeld '77, Esquire – Trustee Emerita, Former Chair of the Board, Past Parent

The Search Committee is deeply grateful for your participation in our process. We will continue to update you on the Head of School Search webpage and through emails about important milestones in our search. Thank you for your continuing interest in and enthusiasm for this significant work.

Warm regards,

Anne Ford and Pat Coyne
Search Committee Co-Chairs

Dear Agnes Irwin Community,

We continue to move forward with the Head of School Search process and are pleased to share the Position Description, which will be used to generate interest among prospective candidates. The Position Description provides a comprehensive description of Agnes Irwin and captures what makes our School, and the opportunity to lead it, special. It outlines the desired qualities and qualifications for our next Head of School and is an important recruiting tool. It will also serve as a guidepost as we consider candidates.

The Position Description was based in large part on the important feedback we received from so many of you in the online survey, as well as input provided by faculty, students, parents, staff, trustees, and alumnae in a variety of focus group sessions. Thank you to all of you who took the time to offer your insights.

We encourage you to share this Position Description with anyone in your networks. We welcome any additional candidate suggestions from members of our community and other trusted friends and family whose opinions you value. Our search consultant, Storbeck/Pimentel, will be an excellent source of candidates, but the best candidates often come from within a community. Please email any candidate suggestions to AISHeadofSchool@storbecksearch.com.

Over the summer, the Search Committee, working with Storbeck/Pimentel, will evaluate candidate resumes and begin to select semi-finalist candidates to interview in person. In order to attract the best possible candidates, many of whom are likely employed in other positions, it is essential that we maintain confidentiality during this phase of the search process. As a result, the Search Committee may not have a great deal of information to report during this period, but please know that we are hard at work.

In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to us with any questions about the search process at headofschoolsearch@agnesirwin.org.

Thank you for your continuing support and enthusiasm for our search. Enjoy your summer.

Warmly,

Anne Ford and Pat Coyne
Search Committee Co-Chairs

A Message From The Search Committee
September 12, 2019

Dear Agnes Irwin Community,

We are pleased to provide a brief update on the Head of School search for Agnes Irwin. Over the summer, we worked with our search consultants from Storbeck/Pimentel to solicit recommendations and nominations from leaders in education and other fields. We also actively recruited candidates through extensive personal outreach, as well as published advertisements. Our search consultants continue to follow up on the many suggestions and nominations that have come to the search committee from the AIS community.

The candidate pool continues to grow, and we are pleased by the quality and variety it contains. The search committee will narrow the pool in the coming months through a careful review of candidate credentials, interviews, and referencing with the strongest aspirants. In order to attract the best possible candidates, many of whom are likely employed in other positions, it is essential that we maintain confidentiality during this phase of the search process. We will be as transparent as possible and share what information we can without compromising the confidentiality of candidates. As the process moves forward, we continue to anticipate the announcement of Agnes Irwin's next Head of School this winter.

We thank the many AIS parents, students, faculty, staff, administrators, and alumnae who have shared their thoughts, suggestions, and candidate nominations with us. The committee remains interested in additional nominations of potential candidates, which may be emailed to AISHeadofSchool@storbecksearch.com.

Warmly,

Anne Ford and Pat Coyne
Search Committee Co-Chairs

A Message From The Search Committee
October 10, 2019

Dear Agnes Irwin Community,

The Head of School Search Committee is pleased to report that the search is proceeding as planned and we are deeply impressed by the quality of the candidates we have encountered throughout this process. We have begun conversations with a number of candidates and have left these interactions feeling energized and optimistic about the possibilities ahead for our school. And we are hearing from candidates in return that they admire and are strongly attracted to the quality of Agnes Irwin's students, faculty, and staff as represented through the school's remarkable outcomes and accomplishments.

The committee continues to be informed by advice and input from the AIS community, from board discussions, the on-campus forums, the online survey, and other communications. These inputs have greatly contributed to the committee's focus and approach. The search committee is committed to working together and embracing the common goal of finding the best leader to become Agnes Irwin's next Head of School. We are all excited about what lies ahead, and are proud to represent our school in this important process.

We will continue to keep you updated, keeping in mind that candidate confidentiality is of the utmost importance at this stage of the recruiting process.

Warm regards,

Anne Ford and Pat Coyne
Search Committee Co-Chairs

Announcing Our New Head of School
December 12, 2019

Dear Agnes Irwin Community,

I am delighted to announce that the Board of Trustees has unanimously supported the appointment of Sally B. Keidel as the 14th Head of The Agnes Irwin School, effective July 1, 2020.

Sally currently serves as Head of The Montgomery School, a PreK through Grade 8 school in Chester Springs, PA. During her six years as Head of School, in addition to leading the school through a visionary strategic plan, embracing the leadership opportunities and challenges inherent in heading a school, and implementing a faculty evaluation system, Sally worked closely with the Board of Trustees on Excellence Within Reach, a tuition-lowering initiative which led to significant enrollment growth in the early grades at Montgomery.

Throughout her professional career in education, Sally has enjoyed success in many different capacities – as a French teacher, a director of residential life at a boarding school, an admissions director, and as a senior administrator in assistant head and head of school roles. Many in our community know Sally well from her seven years of distinguished service to Agnes Irwin as Director of Admission and Financial Aid from 2007-2014, as well as her appointment as Assistant Head of School from 2012-2014. Sally holds a master's in educational leadership from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in French from Dickinson College.

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. Confident, yet gracious, and a self-described “connector,” Sally looks forward to reuniting with our community and leading us into our next 150 years.

Sally would like to share the following with the AIS community: “I am incredibly honored to return to Agnes Irwin as your next Head of School. In every conversation I had throughout the search process, I was struck both by this community’s profound commitment to what is best for girls, and its tremendous passion for this school — and I am eager to meet students, faculty, staff, parents, and alumnae as I begin to transition into my new role. My previous service to this outstanding educational institution created within me a deep belief in the school’s mission to empower girls to learn, to lead, and to live a legacy, and I embrace the opportunity to lead The Agnes Irwin School as we look to the next 150 years.”

During her tenure at Agnes Irwin, Sally successfully shared our story to the broader community and formed lasting connections with current families in our school as well as with those walking through our doors for the first time. During the Search Committee’s listening sessions in the spring, many of our constituents described our future leader as someone who possessed those qualities while being visible in the halls, supporting our faculty, leading with strategic vision while building on our school’s strengths, and serving as a role model for our girls.  This is just the mix that Sally will bring as she returns to Agnes Irwin as Head of School. Sally is a beloved leader who genuinely appreciates our treasured traditions, holds our mission in high regard, and is ready to lead this outstanding institution as she continues to live her legacy. As we head into the early months of 2020, we look forward to providing opportunities for the AIS community to meet — or reconnect — with Sally.

I’d like to extend my sincere gratitude to the Search Committee Co-Chairs, Pat Coyne and Anne Ford, who led a thorough and thoughtful process over the course of eight months. The Search Committee — comprised of Board members who are current parents, alumnae, and parents of alumnae; as well as faculty and staff members — partnered with our consultant Storbeck/Pimentel to conduct a nationwide search for our next Head of School. The committee solicited input through focus groups and surveys from all AIS constituencies to develop the desired qualifications and experience we sought in our next leader. This comprehensive rubric was the guide against which all applicants were measured throughout the search process, from the initial phone screens through the final candidate visits with administrators, faculty, board, and search committee members. I would like to thank all of these dedicated community members for the time they committed to this search and for keeping what is best for our girls at the forefront. Their unique perspectives were invaluable during this process and I am deeply grateful for their insights.

I would also like to thank Dr. Wendy Hill for her six years in service to this school. Wendy oversaw the entire Strategic Planning process during the first year of her tenure. Since then, she has worked tirelessly for our girls, reimagining the curriculum, forming the iTeam, and leading a long-term Master Planning process. We look forward to celebrating her many accomplishments as well as the culmination of our celebratory 150th Anniversary year this spring.

Please join me in welcoming the entire Keidel family back to AIS. Sally’s husband, Phil, and their children, Maggie and Charlie, are all excited to be back rooting for the Blue and Gold.  They look forward to seeing old friends, and meeting new ones, as they get re-acquainted with our community.

Yours sincerely,

Ginny Sharp Williams ’88, P'20 
Chair, Board of Trustees

A Letter from Sally Keidel
December 12, 2019

With tremendous enthusiasm and gratitude, I am honored to return to Agnes Irwin to serve as the 14th Head of School. As I reflect on what it means to lead this outstanding institution, I am eager to embrace Agnes Irwin’s mission, core values, and strategic vision, and look forward to forming strong relationships with all members of the community and nurturing this school’s exceptional culture. I know that an Agnes Irwin education is centered around what is best for girls, combining challenging academics with a concurrent emphasis on the development of each girl’s character and voice. This all happens within a supportive, connected community.

The commitment to advancing educational opportunities for girls has been a recurring theme in my career in education. I began my career at Chatham Hall, an all-girls boarding school in Virginia. Later, I became the first female Director of Admissions at The Hill School, just five years after that school first began admitting girls. From the Hill, I came to Agnes Irwin, where I spent seven rewarding years working in the areas of admission, enrollment management, and financial aid, ultimately earning the title of Assistant Head of School. My path to this moment has been marked by my dedication to the development of girls and young women in independent schools.

I am honored to build on the accomplishments of Dr. Wendy Hill and her six years of leadership. In preparation for stepping into this new role, I am learning more about the ways Agnes Irwin has grown and evolved since my time here, and am encouraged by what I see. The school has implemented positive changes to the Upper School curriculum, centering learning on the present-day needs of the students. Likewise, having spent a year in France while in college, I am naturally drawn to the impact that the global exchange programs will have for the girls who are willing to seize that remarkable opportunity. I am also heartened by the equity and inclusion initiatives undertaken at Agnes Irwin in the past few years and its prominence in the school’s strategic plan, as this work is vital for building strong communities.

Throughout my candidacy for this position, the Search Committee helped build my excitement for the critical work ahead. It is apparent to me that the pride in this school is vibrant as ever, and there is much optimism about the school’s bright future. Agnes Irwin provides opportunities for girls to step forward and to excel in this rapidly changing world, and I am committed to continuing and enhancing the school’s unceasing delivery on that promise. I look forward to starting this important work alongside the Agnes Irwin community upon my arrival in July 2020.

Sally Keidel