Landon's New Head Of School: The Decision is In!

[Anonymous]

Will say I find it intriguing he went from Calvert to Kincaid, a perfectly logical move, but then from Kincaid to Tatnall? That would seem like a significant step down. Calvert is a prestigious Baltimore K-8 with a long history and is very well known in the world of education. Kincaid is a prominent Houston school with an impressively fancy campus. But Tatnall is a minor Delaware school. Going from Kincaid to Landon makes more sense than Kincaid-Tatnall-Landon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will say I find it intriguing he went from Calvert to Kincaid, a perfectly logical move, but then from Kincaid to Tatnall? That would seem like a significant step down. Calvert is a prestigious Baltimore K-8 with a long history and is very well known in the world of education. Kincaid is a prominent Houston school with an impressively fancy campus. But Tatnall is a minor Delaware school. Going from Kincaid to Landon makes more sense than Kincaid-Tatnall-Landon.

Maybe he wanted to move back to this general area and be closer to family. Who knows? But that would be a very logical reason given the locations of the schools. He sounds like a very experienced Head, so kudos to Landon for getting him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Concerning that he seems to overvalue sports.

Nah. Maybe he was raised by a DCUM mom whose anxiety prompted her to make sure he played at the highest level k-12 so that her bright son would have a hook? Can you imagine someone doing that?

[Anonymous]

What happened to Jim Neill?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will say I find it intriguing he went from Calvert to Kincaid, a perfectly logical move, but then from Kincaid to Tatnall? That would seem like a significant step down. Calvert is a prestigious Baltimore K-8 with a long history and is very well known in the world of education. Kincaid is a prominent Houston school with an impressively fancy campus. But Tatnall is a minor Delaware school. Going from Kincaid to Landon makes more sense than Kincaid-Tatnall-Landon.

Maybe he wanted to move back to this general area and be closer to family. Who knows? But that would be a very logical reason given the locations of the schools. He sounds like a very experienced Head, so kudos to Landon for getting him.

I am always amazed that when discussing men moving jobs, no one ever suggests that perhaps his wife is the higher earner and she got a promotion with a move so he needed to follow.

I know nothing about this man’s family. But I find it odd that people always assume the man’s professional move is the one that moves the family. Some women are very successful professionally. Why is this never assumed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will say I find it intriguing he went from Calvert to Kincaid, a perfectly logical move, but then from Kincaid to Tatnall? That would seem like a significant step down. Calvert is a prestigious Baltimore K-8 with a long history and is very well known in the world of education. Kincaid is a prominent Houston school with an impressively fancy campus. But Tatnall is a minor Delaware school. Going from Kincaid to Landon makes more sense than Kincaid-Tatnall-Landon.

It’s amazing to me that you can post this, casting a shadow on him, with all sorts of speculation and suspicions while knowing nothing about him. And frankly, how can you know so much about all these schools? You’ve personally had children at all of them? 🙄

[Anonymous]

DCUM, never disappoints. I'm here for the comments (popcorn in hand).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What happened to Jim Neill?

Jim Neil has served as Landon’s headmaster for 11 years and his son graduated in the Spring of 2024. He also just completed a $54M Capital Campaign.

To the dismay of the Landon naysayers, there is no story.

The new headmaster resume looks impressive and will have big shoes to fill.

Congrats to the Landon community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will say I find it intriguing he went from Calvert to Kincaid, a perfectly logical move, but then from Kincaid to Tatnall? That would seem like a significant step down. Calvert is a prestigious Baltimore K-8 with a long history and is very well known in the world of education. Kincaid is a prominent Houston school with an impressively fancy campus. But Tatnall is a minor Delaware school. Going from Kincaid to Landon makes more sense than Kincaid-Tatnall-Landon.

It’s amazing to me that you can post this, casting a shadow on him, with all sorts of speculation and suspicions while knowing nothing about him. And frankly, how can you know so much about all these schools? You’ve personally had children at all of them? 🙄

I know enough about these schools as I am from the Baltimore private school world and have family in Houston that it's undeniable Tatnall is a major step down from the previous two schools in general prestige. It is intriguing one would make this decision. Maybe he wanted to step back from a higher profile and higher pressure role for a while. Will say Landon is also a school that falls into the high profile category and the search committee chose him, so whatever the reasons were they did not hold it against him. Not wishing him anything but best luck in his new role.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What happened to Jim Neill?

Jim Neil has served as Landon’s headmaster for 11 years and his son graduated in the Spring of 2024. He also just completed a $54M Capital Campaign.

To the dismay of the Landon naysayers, there is no story.

The new headmaster resume looks impressive and will have big shoes to fill.

Congrats to the Landon community.

Nothing impressive about Tatnall. It’s a TTT school with no prestige

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will say I find it intriguing he went from Calvert to Kincaid, a perfectly logical move, but then from Kincaid to Tatnall? That would seem like a significant step down. Calvert is a prestigious Baltimore K-8 with a long history and is very well known in the world of education. Kincaid is a prominent Houston school with an impressively fancy campus. But Tatnall is a minor Delaware school. Going from Kincaid to Landon makes more sense than Kincaid-Tatnall-Landon.

It’s amazing to me that you can post this, casting a shadow on him, with all sorts of speculation and suspicions while knowing nothing about him. And frankly, how can you know so much about all these schools? You’ve personally had children at all of them? 🙄

I know enough about these schools as I am from the Baltimore private school world and have family in Houston that it's undeniable Tatnall is a major step down from the previous two schools in general prestige. It is intriguing one would make this decision. Maybe he wanted to step back from a higher profile and higher pressure role for a while. Will say Landon is also a school that falls into the high profile category and the search committee chose him, so whatever the reasons were they did not hold it against him. Not wishing him anything but best luck in his new role.

Maybe his priority was getting back to the east coast. Maybe Texas didn’t suit him. Maybe his wife had professional or personal aspirations. Maybe he saw a challenge at Tatnall that intrigued him. Maybe he didn’t feel Kincaid was a great fit. Who knows. I’m not intrigued. But good for him and Landon at this moment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will say I find it intriguing he went from Calvert to Kincaid, a perfectly logical move, but then from Kincaid to Tatnall? That would seem like a significant step down. Calvert is a prestigious Baltimore K-8 with a long history and is very well known in the world of education. Kincaid is a prominent Houston school with an impressively fancy campus. But Tatnall is a minor Delaware school. Going from Kincaid to Landon makes more sense than Kincaid-Tatnall-Landon.

It’s amazing to me that you can post this, casting a shadow on him, with all sorts of speculation and suspicions while knowing nothing about him. And frankly, how can you know so much about all these schools? You’ve personally had children at all of them? 🙄

Tatnall is a high school. You can’t be head of a school without upper school experience.

[Anonymous]

They hired a white male. That’s crazy in this area 😂😂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will say I find it intriguing he went from Calvert to Kincaid, a perfectly logical move, but then from Kincaid to Tatnall? That would seem like a significant step down. Calvert is a prestigious Baltimore K-8 with a long history and is very well known in the world of education. Kincaid is a prominent Houston school with an impressively fancy campus. But Tatnall is a minor Delaware school. Going from Kincaid to Landon makes more sense than Kincaid-Tatnall-Landon.

It’s amazing to me that you can post this, casting a shadow on him, with all sorts of speculation and suspicions while knowing nothing about him. And frankly, how can you know so much about all these schools? You’ve personally had children at all of them? 🙄

I know enough about these schools as I am from the Baltimore private school world and have family in Houston that it's undeniable Tatnall is a major step down from the previous two schools in general prestige. It is intriguing one would make this decision. Maybe he wanted to step back from a higher profile and higher pressure role for a while. Will say Landon is also a school that falls into the high profile category and the search committee chose him, so whatever the reasons were they did not hold it against him. Not wishing him anything but best luck in his new role.

Given how much everyone in the private school world cares about prestige, it’s not surprising the Tatnall move is talked about. But you’ll never know why unless you know him personally. Assume his real friends won’t be gossiping about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Will say I find it intriguing he went from Calvert to Kincaid, a perfectly logical move, but then from Kincaid to Tatnall? That would seem like a significant step down. Calvert is a prestigious Baltimore K-8 with a long history and is very well known in the world of education. Kincaid is a prominent Houston school with an impressively fancy campus. But Tatnall is a minor Delaware school. Going from Kincaid to Landon makes more sense than Kincaid-Tatnall-Landon.

It’s amazing to me that you can post this, casting a shadow on him, with all sorts of speculation and suspicions while knowing nothing about him. And frankly, how can you know so much about all these schools? You’ve personally had children at all of them? 🙄

I know enough about these schools as I am from the Baltimore private school world and have family in Houston that it's undeniable Tatnall is a major step down from the previous two schools in general prestige. It is intriguing one would make this decision. Maybe he wanted to step back from a higher profile and higher pressure role for a while. Will say Landon is also a school that falls into the high profile category and the search committee chose him, so whatever the reasons were they did not hold it against him. Not wishing him anything but best luck in his new role.

Given how much everyone in the private school world cares about prestige, it’s not surprising the Tatnall move is talked about. But you’ll never know why unless you know him personally. Assume his real friends won’t be gossiping about it.

You've just admitted there are personal reasons and in a way you made it worse. His replacement at Kincaid also came from Calvert, so it's unlikely he was pushed out of Kincaid and had to scramble to find any other role. Let's just wish him best of luck at Landon with nothing but cheer and good spirits.