Woods Academy HOS departure?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:He is giving plenty of notice. Went to one school where the headmaster gave notice right before school ended which gave no time to look for a new headmaster and had to fill it with a temporary one.

That head of school who “gave notice” right before school ended was almost certainly fired by their board.

Best practice advance notice is 18 months, not 8 or 9. Nine months requires the board to scramble to hire a consultant, create a committee, and get community feedback before even starting to identify candidates and do initial interviews. The “best” head candidates are interviewing in the fall, so those candidates may be off the board by the time Woods is ready. Woods may be behind the curve here and may end up deciding to have an interim head for a year.

The Board could have known the end of the school year. The public announcement doesn't mean he just gave notice.

You talking about Woods now? It doesn’t matter when he gave notice from my standpoint. But the public announcement and start of the head search process are late as compared to best practices. And unless Woods just has a terrible board, there’s no reason they wouldn’t have started that process—which necessarily includes announcing the head’s departure—as soon as possible if they truly want a new head for July 2023, as opposed to interim.

Does anyone really care if there is an interim head for several months or even a year? This happens all the time at my company - people who give even lots of notice are replaced with the “acting” CFO or whatever until the new hire is finalized. Life goes on.

OP cares. Which is why they asked the question why the departure was announced now and not a year ago. Because a year ago would have been standard practice for an amicable departure.

It’s not “standard” practice. It’s one practice and giving slightly less notice does not signal problems. It is so DCUM to be like “Well if Maret does it this way, then that’s the BEST practice.”

https://www.headsearch.org/basics-search-process.html

It is fine if your school does not meet this timing. Many schools have searches in the spring or summer, often announcing the next head of school in the fall of the year that the outgoing head of school is leaving. Some also announce searches during the school year that the outgoing head is leaving, often moving through a quicker search to great results. None of these approaches are “wrong,” and schools have experienced success with all of them. The first approach just ensures the broadest applicant pool.

Schools may also consider the interim head of school option if the timing does not feel right for whatever reason, including if the school is larger or particularly complex, or if the board feels it needs additional time to gain community insights, revisit the school’s strategic direction, create space following a long-term head, etc. Many schools look within for an interim head of school, often to an upper-level administrator who has been with the school for some time. Others hire an external interim head of school, sometimes for up to two or three years, depending on the school’s needs.

PP here. I’m no fan of Maret and I thought it was very strange that they did their hiring in the spring as opposed to this fall, after Talbott announced when she did. And I also mentioned St Patrick’s which you conveniently ignored. I’m sure I could find plenty of other examples.

Here’s a quote from the same article, which you also conveniently ignored: “Schools looking to optimize their search process will often announce an opening in the fall or winter almost 18 months before the start date.” Sounds like a recognition of standard practice to me.

St. Patrick’s or insert-whatever-school-you-want, same point. It doesn’t sound like a standard practice to me. It sounds like the basic point that starting earlier gives you more time. There are a million other factors though that impact the timing.

Exactly. Including a less-than-amicable separation, or a board that doesn’t have its act together. Which brings us back to OP’s question…

Picking the two worst reasons out of a million is not a rationale supposition. If you have anything to back those guesses up, please share.

Here’s OP’s question: “Is there more to the story new families should know about? I know not all transitions are negative but just curious why it was announced now and not a year ago.”

Do you have any information to share? Or do you just want to dissemble? I have been trying to get this discussion back on the right track because I think the question is a good one that I’m also interested in. Replies that just say “who cares?” or “what’s the problem?” or “why would the announcement have come earlier, I only give 2 weeks!” are not really helpful or responsive, as I have explained.

You’ve been insinuating that the timing itself is indicative of problems (because it’s not “best” or “standard” according to you), and replies have pushed back on that.

That was the premise of OP’s question. Your own authority says that schools looking to “optimize their search process” would have announced last year. So, do you have any information about why Woods didn’t announce this last year?

Why don’t you call the school and ask?

Funny. More dissembling.

It’s been answer, you just don’t like the answer.

Good luck to the Woods board in hiring a new head from the dregs of this year’s crop.

Everyone appreciates your warm wishes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our family is considering Woods Academy for next year and just learned the HOS is departing this July. Is there more to the story new families should know about? I know not all transitions are negative but just curious why it was announced now and not a year ago.

Another Woods parent chiming in to say that I don't think there's more to the story to know about or be concerned about. Joe is an amazing head of school and we've been lucky to have had him for as long as we have. As others noted, he will be an empty nester soon and is at a good transition point in his personal and professional life. I think a lot of working parents can relate to that. The Board is communicating well with the school and seems to have the process very well in hand. I'd encourage you to continue with your visit and tour and get to know the school. It's been a wonderful community for us and I don't expect that to materially change after a leadership transition.

[Anonymous]

Woods just got the new head from MCPS.

[Anonymous]

Odd choice

[Anonymous]

The pp with their insistence on 18 months 18 months 18 months has got to be one of the most on-message, disciplined posters on dcum. Also notable that after pages and pages of this, absolutely no negative comments about woods emerged. Which probably speaks for itself.

[Anonymous]

Silence about a school on here shouldn't be seen as a sign that people are happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Odd choice

Agreed..I understand the instructional background but no former private school experience. Mr. Powers was critical in the placement process for high school. He was on top of everything and was very honest about chances. Don't see how the new head will be able to do that. Maybe someone else will take the lead....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Odd choice

Agreed..I understand the instructional background but no former private school experience. Mr. Powers was critical in the placement process for high school. He was on top of everything and was very honest about chances. Don't see how the new head will be able to do that. Maybe someone else will take the lead....

Woods parent here - That was my first concern too, especially as I have kids in the upper school who will graduate soon. I'm not sure I understand why they would pick this person. She seems like a great fit for a public elementary school, but not a private K-8...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Odd choice

Agreed..I understand the instructional background but no former private school experience. Mr. Powers was critical in the placement process for high school. He was on top of everything and was very honest about chances. Don't see how the new head will be able to do that. Maybe someone else will take the lead....

Not to mention everybody in the Catholic high schools and even some of the independent schools know Powers. He has been able to make calls to get kids off waitlists. Not sure how new head will be able to do this. I feel bad for the current upper school students.

[Anonymous]

Our family has a child in the upper school and is also concerned about her ability to assist with outplacement. We are relatively new to the school and disappointed they selected someone from a lower tier MoCo public elementary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our family has a child in the upper school and is also concerned about her ability to assist with outplacement. We are relatively new to the school and disappointed they selected someone from a lower tier MoCo public elementary.

I don't mind the tier of school, and I think being a principal in MCPS is a challenging job and she seems to have great credentials for it -- but it's a very different job than being HOS at a private K-8.

[Anonymous]

Interesting. Totally agree with all of the above concerns. Were there no other candidates or did current assistant head of school not apply?

[Anonymous]

I think it's a great choice. She brings academic/instructional chops lacking in the current admin. And high school placement isn't that complicated for Woods families. Woods kids get into good schools because Woods produces good kids, the school has a good reputation, and most families are full pay, not because Joe is working back-channel deals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a great choice. She brings academic/instructional chops lacking in the current admin. And high school placement isn't that complicated for Woods families. Woods kids get into good schools because Woods produces good kids, the school has a good reputation, and most families are full pay, not because Joe is working back-channel deals.

Oh please. Yes, they are great kids who do great work. But one of the reasons you send a kid to a private K-8 is for the outplacement strengths. Helping them select the right school fit, working with the high schools admissions offices to fill in any gaps or questions, etc. Maybe this person isn't going to be expected to do that... and that's fine. But then who is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's a great choice. She brings academic/instructional chops lacking in the current admin. And high school placement isn't that complicated for Woods families. Woods kids get into good schools because Woods produces good kids, the school has a good reputation, and most families are full pay, not because Joe is working back-channel deals.

Spoken as someone who hasn’t had a kid in 8th grade there where he helped with the WL. If you know some of the previous classes, you know what I’m talking about. Also, not everyone is full pay. And producing good kids not enough with the competitive high school admissions process.