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WES Head of School resigns
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Anonymous
| Kirk Duncan, the Head of School at WES, has resigned to take a job in NC. I don't think he was in that position for very long. |
Anonymous
| I cannot understand -- given the intense nature of parenting and parents in this area -- why any good, reasonable teacher or administrator would want to take on the burden and stress of being the head of school of any school whose raison d'etre was to eventually place its students in one of the Big 3, or comparable schools. In short, the good man was probably approached about a less stressful position, with a lovely school, in that part of the country where the cost of living is much lower, and the parents are more calm. |
Anonymous
|
Kirk became the Head of School in July 2011. He will continue working until mid-June. His new position apparently allows him to live in the same city with is wife.
Middle School Director Nancy Wright has agreed to serve as the interim Head. It was very nice to see him in the morning. He would greet my DS by first name. We will miss him. |
Anonymous
| Many teachers and parents have been extremely unhappy with Mr. Duncan and claimed "his heart was not in the job." Kinda rings true -- he found a new job after being at WES for only 3 years. |
Anonymous
| I understand that he had a three-year contract. Re-read the email carefully and I think you can figure it out. |
Anonymous
| What's WES? |
Anonymous
www.w-e-s.org |
Anonymous
| We liked him and wish him well. We're disappointed that the school won't have a Head for an entire year. Nothing ever gets done or decided by an interim administrator. Come on, trustees, get it together. |
Anonymous
| I really think this is what happens when these Head searches look nationally. You can end up with a head whose family lives in another state and so they don't ever really commit to the school and the job and they look back toward home. Same thing happened at Burke. Why don't these schools promote from within enabling someone who is obviously already committed to the school to really do a great job? It is short sighted. |
Anonymous
I beg to differ. You can hire someone locally or nationally committed to school and he or she may have to leave due to family reasons (spouse finding a job elsewhere etc) As for this specific case, I do not believe in the case of Kirk Duncan commitment was an issue. |
Anonymous
| So, the school auction is on Saturday night and the Head of the School announces on Monday morning that he has accepted a job in another state. |
Anonymous
| I think he has a better opportunity ahead. It's just that. |
Anonymous
|
Looks like the board didn't want a serious commitment. Why would they pick a person who had to leave behind a spouse, so far away? And now a temp person for the next year?
What's going on there? |
Anonymous
| I completely agree. What was the board thinking when they hired him? Did they not know when they hired him that his future wife just got a job in NY? And she is a chaplain. Why, if they did not want to be living apart anymore, did she not apply for the chaplain position that was open at WES last year? I just don't believe the spin. He clearly did not understand the Washington parent scene, and the fact of the matter, is that many of the parents at WES did not understand him either. It was a bad fit - period! |
Anonymous
| They need to promote from within as far as the Head of School slot is concerned. The Board doesn't want any real change. Promoting an insider allows the school to remain as is for the most part. WES is a very conservative change adverse body. The current HOS didn't fit their model. |