Head of School searches: How did it go

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you recently went through a HoS search, how did it go? Was the change for better or worse?

As a Maret parent I was truly shocked by the selection and feel like the Board made a huge mistake, but am hoping for the best.

I agree with you. I didn’t like any of the candidates.

If none of the candidates was strong enough, the Maret search committee should have put an interim in place and started again.

I, too, am shocked by the selection and hope the search committee plans to meet with Maret parents (you know, the ones paying tuition) to tell us more about their process like they are meeting with the US students today.

They wouldn't have even needed to appoint an interim head since Marjo is not leaving until the end of next school year. They could have have just announced they were continuing the search and would be looking at additional candidates over the summer with an eye towards presenting them to the community in the fall. Bringing in finalists in the fall is the timeline that most schools follow anyway, when the head gives ~18 months notice of their retirement as Marjo did here.

Rushing through the process to fill empty positions so they’re no longer empty is a Maret trademark.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why so very disappointed with the ultimate selection, aside from your being against his selection because of his gender?

Many things, first and foremost that he is coming from Whittle.

Second, the lack of transparency in general with the process: There should have been a voting member on the committee from the faculty, the parent survey results should have been public, and the student feedback appears to show (based on what my DC has told me) that they liked the male candidate *the least* but the board seems to have glossed this fact over.

Third, the search firm that was used is known to recycle past candidates who were not successful in past cycles because they are lazy and are unskilled headhunters.

Finally, none of the candidates know anything about Maret itself- why not promote from within, such as the Associate Head of School, or bring someone back who knows the school well, like one of the former division heads? As someone with past consulting/managerial experience, the process was vexing to watch unfold. However, and as some have intimated on this thread, the decision rested in very, very few hands, sort of like the Politburo.

There are literally zero internal candidates that would have been anything besides an outright train wreck as HOS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why so very disappointed with the ultimate selection, aside from your being against his selection because of his gender?

Many things, first and foremost that he is coming from Whittle.

Second, the lack of transparency in general with the process: There should have been a voting member on the committee from the faculty, the parent survey results should have been public, and the student feedback appears to show (based on what my DC has told me) that they liked the male candidate *the least* but the board seems to have glossed this fact over.

Third, the search firm that was used is known to recycle past candidates who were not successful in past cycles because they are lazy and are unskilled headhunters.

Finally, none of the candidates know anything about Maret itself- why not promote from within, such as the Associate Head of School, or bring someone back who knows the school well, like one of the former division heads? As someone with past consulting/managerial experience, the process was vexing to watch unfold. However, and as some have intimated on this thread, the decision rested in very, very few hands, sort of like the Politburo.

There are literally zero internal candidates that would have been anything besides an outright train wreck as HOS.

Why? We are at another big 3 school and there was no transparency at all with the final candidates. It was secret. Give this gentleman a chance. How would you feel if someone wrote this about you on here?

[Anonymous]

I wanted them to get a younger male HOS from a preschool but perhaps they wanted someone with more experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:New head at Maret is the former head of Whittle who had mixed reviews

oh wow. That makes more sense as to why people are not thrilled.
Maret's announcement completely omits this.

Assume the real bulk of their experience was pre-whittle.

[Anonymous]

Seems mostly like you have gripes about the process and not about him as an individual, other than his gender and a previous job he held for a tiny percentage of his professional life. That's unfortunate as far as I see it. I like the fact that Maret did not promote from within. They have had the same leadership for decades - why not bring in an outsider to move the community forward.

Bad process = dud of a candidate. Duh.

Christ Whittle is the founder of the Edison Project, which failed. He then tried to set up Whittle, which is dying and is facing multiple lawsuits for nonpayment (this is all public information in DC court dockets).

It is hugely questionable that Bisgaard disregarded Whittle’s spectacular failure with Edison but went to work for the Whittle School anyway. So despite your “tiny percentage” comment, it is clear to me that he has very bad judgement.

I suppose it also does not matter to you then, that the faculty had zero say in the process and the student cohort selected to meet with the candidates liked him the least? You do a great job criticizing my post without providing an proof of your own that he is a strong candidate other than he might “move the community forward.”

Move forward to what, exactly? Bankruptcy, embarrassment, and poor leadership?

I hope it works out- but the process is important. That is how you get good candidates. This was a poorly run process, and now we got what we deserve, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Why so very disappointed with the ultimate selection, aside from your being against his selection because of his gender?

Many things, first and foremost that he is coming from Whittle.

Second, the lack of transparency in general with the process: There should have been a voting member on the committee from the faculty, the parent survey results should have been public, and the student feedback appears to show (based on what my DC has told me) that they liked the male candidate *the least* but the board seems to have glossed this fact over.

Third, the search firm that was used is known to recycle past candidates who were not successful in past cycles because they are lazy and are unskilled headhunters.

Finally, none of the candidates know anything about Maret itself- why not promote from within, such as the Associate Head of School, or bring someone back who knows the school well, like one of the former division heads? As someone with past consulting/managerial experience, the process was vexing to watch unfold. However, and as some have intimated on this thread, the decision rested in very, very few hands, sort of like the Politburo.

There are literally zero internal candidates that would have been anything besides an outright train wreck as HOS.

Why? We are at another big 3 school and there was no transparency at all with the final candidates. It was secret. Give this gentleman a chance. How would you feel if someone wrote this about you on here?

Uh…sort of like how you are on here? Glass houses. And I don’t care if you are Big 3. Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

It's interesting, I wonder if Marjo (who almost certainly DID have a BIG say in who would get her job) selected him because she knew he wouldn't be beloved the way she has been.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting, I wonder if Marjo (who almost certainly DID have a BIG say in who would get her job) selected him because she knew he wouldn't be beloved the way she has been.

Oh yes after 30 years she’s sabotaging the school for her ego. Geezuz.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Seems mostly like you have gripes about the process and not about him as an individual, other than his gender and a previous job he held for a tiny percentage of his professional life. That's unfortunate as far as I see it. I like the fact that Maret did not promote from within. They have had the same leadership for decades - why not bring in an outsider to move the community forward.

Bad process = dud of a candidate. Duh.

Christ Whittle is the founder of the Edison Project, which failed. He then tried to set up Whittle, which is dying and is facing multiple lawsuits for nonpayment (this is all public information in DC court dockets).

It is hugely questionable that Bisgaard disregarded Whittle’s spectacular failure with Edison but went to work for the Whittle School anyway. So despite your “tiny percentage” comment, it is clear to me that he has very bad judgement.

I suppose it also does not matter to you then, that the faculty had zero say in the process and the student cohort selected to meet with the candidates liked him the least? You do a great job criticizing my post without providing an proof of your own that he is a strong candidate other than he might “move the community forward.”

Move forward to what, exactly? Bankruptcy, embarrassment, and poor leadership?

I hope it works out- but the process is important. That is how you get good candidates. This was a poorly run process, and now we got what we deserve, I guess.

Right. So anyone who goes to work for an entrepreneur who had a prior venture fail is “hugely questionable”? Hmmm. I’m just glad that the Maret board is more forward leaning and visionary than your myopic view. And as a PP noted before - the financial problems at Whittle have nothing to do with Bisgaard. They literally lost $100M in funding when investors backed out due to the pandemic and somehow thats relevant to the HOS ability to lead a school?

[Anonymous]

Right. So anyone who goes to work for an entrepreneur who had a prior venture fail is “hugely questionable”? Hmmm. I’m just glad that the Maret board is more forward leaning and visionary than your myopic view. And as a PP noted before - the financial problems at Whittle have nothing to do with Bisgaard. They literally lost $100M in funding when investors backed out due to the pandemic and somehow thats relevant to the HOS ability to lead a school?


Because any sane person would not have taken a position at Whittle to begin with. Why is this so hard to understand??????

I take it you are either the one Bisgaard booster within the parent community or the person on the board who swayed the vote. Congratulations, there will plenty of us to tell you “told you so” in a few years from now. Marjo is far from perfect but this guy has zero% of her vision or skill.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Right. So anyone who goes to work for an entrepreneur who had a prior venture fail is “hugely questionable”? Hmmm. I’m just glad that the Maret board is more forward leaning and visionary than your myopic view. And as a PP noted before - the financial problems at Whittle have nothing to do with Bisgaard. They literally lost $100M in funding when investors backed out due to the pandemic and somehow thats relevant to the HOS ability to lead a school?

Because any sane person would not have taken a position at Whittle to begin with. Why is this so hard to understand??????

I take it you are either the one Bisgaard booster within the parent community or the person on the board who swayed the vote. Congratulations, there will plenty of us to tell you “told you so” in a few years from now. Marjo is far from perfect but this guy has zero% of her vision or skill.

Not sure you’re one to be commenting on the sanity of others. Step off the ledge. It’s going to be ok! Your prestige will survive this horrible stain! Your country club friends will soon forget and start inviting you back for pickle ball and mimosas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why so very disappointed with the ultimate selection, aside from your being against his selection because of his gender?

Many things, first and foremost that he is coming from Whittle.

Second, the lack of transparency in general with the process: There should have been a voting member on the committee from the faculty, the parent survey results should have been public, and the student feedback appears to show (based on what my DC has told me) that they liked the male candidate *the least* but the board seems to have glossed this fact over.

Third, the search firm that was used is known to recycle past candidates who were not successful in past cycles because they are lazy and are unskilled headhunters.

Finally, none of the candidates know anything about Maret itself- why not promote from within, such as the Associate Head of School, or bring someone back who knows the school well, like one of the former division heads? As someone with past consulting/managerial experience, the process was vexing to watch unfold. However, and as some have intimated on this thread, the decision rested in very, very few hands, sort of like the Politburo.

No. The students I know found the second candidate cold and aloof. They liked the third and the kids I know found the first and third candidates warmer and more approachable.

There was a current Maret parent who had been at Whittle who spoke at the session they had with the candidate for the school community. She was full of praise for him and said that he was always focused on the students and their learning. He was HOS at another school (K-12) in Connecticut for 12 years years and had taught and held leadership positions at other schools before that. I think some people on here and at Maret are over emphasizing what happened with Whittle. He struck me as an educator who was willing to try something that could help move education forward. As someone paying for my kids to attend private school, I don’t think I am in any position to look down or criticize a for profit model for education. We opted out of public education because we thought the independent model was better for our kids. I’m all for finding better ways to educate children and am not going to hold it against an educator if they tried something new and different.

The new HOS has experience managing and seeing building and expansion projects through. Maret is in the process of expanding its athletic facilities with new fields and facilities and his prior experience will be helpful with that. He has also done fundraising and I think that matters too. Finally, he seems to have real experience with DEI which I hope translates to Maret continuing to make progress and improve in that area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's interesting, I wonder if Marjo (who almost certainly DID have a BIG say in who would get her job) selected him because she knew he wouldn't be beloved the way she has been.

Oh yes after 30 years she’s sabotaging the school for her ego. Geezuz.

Yeah, hard to believe that the person who’s had a building on campus named for her for like 15 years might have a gigantic ego.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Seems mostly like you have gripes about the process and not about him as an individual, other than his gender and a previous job he held for a tiny percentage of his professional life. That's unfortunate as far as I see it. I like the fact that Maret did not promote from within. They have had the same leadership for decades - why not bring in an outsider to move the community forward.

Bad process = dud of a candidate. Duh.

Christ Whittle is the founder of the Edison Project, which failed. He then tried to set up Whittle, which is dying and is facing multiple lawsuits for nonpayment (this is all public information in DC court dockets).

It is hugely questionable that Bisgaard disregarded Whittle’s spectacular failure with Edison but went to work for the Whittle School anyway. So despite your “tiny percentage” comment, it is clear to me that he has very bad judgement.

I suppose it also does not matter to you then, that the faculty had zero say in the process and the student cohort selected to meet with the candidates liked him the least? You do a great job criticizing my post without providing an proof of your own that he is a strong candidate other than he might “move the community forward.”

Move forward to what, exactly? Bankruptcy, embarrassment, and poor leadership?

I hope it works out- but the process is important. That is how you get good candidates. This was a poorly run process, and now we got what we deserve, I guess.

Right. So anyone who goes to work for an entrepreneur who had a prior venture fail is “hugely questionable”? Hmmm. I’m just glad that the Maret board is more forward leaning and visionary than your myopic view. And as a PP noted before - the financial problems at Whittle have nothing to do with Bisgaard. They literally lost $100M in funding when investors backed out due to the pandemic and somehow thats relevant to the HOS ability to lead a school?

Wow, you really bought the Whittle PR spin that all the financial problems were a result of the pandemic? It was a scam financially from the get-go. The mountains of litigation pleadings bear that out.