Head of School Search

Our search consultants conducted in-person and virtual listening sessions, as well as an online survey, to learn about the qualities and skills the Hewitt community values in our next head of school. The thoughtful and inspiring feedback they gathered reflected the diverse perspectives that characterize the Hewitt community and guided the creation of our Head of School Position Description.  
 

The Board of Trustees has engaged Carney, Sandoe & Associates (CS&A) to conduct a comprehensive search for Hewitt’s next head of school. A leading educational recruitment, search, and strategic consulting firm, Carney, Sandoe & Associates has placed over 32,000 teachers and administrators in independent schools since 1977. Our CS&A partners include:

John Allman, Senior Consultant
john.allman@carneysandoe.com
John joined Carney, Sandoe & Associates as a senior consultant after four decades working within independent schools in the northeast, southeast, and southwest. For the past fifteen years, he has served as head of school at Manhattan’s Trinity School, after eleven years as headmaster at Houston’s St. John’s School. John began his journey within independent schools as a young student sixty years ago and has since served in almost every capacity and role within four distinctively superb independent school communities, as teacher, coach, advisor, class dean, college counselor, department head, divisional principal, and parent. In addition, he has participated robustly within three different regional accrediting associations, and has served on the boards of a variety of educational organizations serving students from diverse backgrounds, with diverse educational needs.

Karen Neitzel, Senior Consultant 
karen.neitzel@carneysandoe.com
A graduate of the International School of Brussels, Karen Neitzel has spent the last thirty years working in independent and public schools in California, Oregon, and Hawaii. Prior to joining CS&A in 2018, she was the assistant head of school at The Archer School for Girls in Los Angeles and the associate head of school at ‘Iolani School on Oahu. Karen has partnered with over 85 schools in their head of school and senior administrator searches, both domestically and internationally. She is passionate about advocating for girls and women and has presented several workshops on promoting women’s leadership opportunities at conferences sponsored by NCGS, EARCOS, NAIS, and the CS&A Women’s Institute. She recently completed her Executive Coaching Certification with Columbia University and has the certifications to use several assessment tools with candidates including the IDI and Hogan.

Sara Shulman, Leader of Development and Finance Practice 
sara.shulman@carneysandoe.com
A passionate nonprofit leader, Sara has deep experience in independent school governance, leadership development, major gifts solicitation, campaign and strategic planning, and educational administration. From 2015 to 2022, she served as the Director of Development at The Packer Collegiate Institute (NY), overseeing all philanthropic programs, offering counsel and strategy on a variety of schoolwide initiatives, and designing and managing the school’s capital campaign. From 2011-2015, Sara was the Director of Development at Collegiate School (NY), leading all fundraising operations and serving as a key team member in Collegiate’s multi-year process of relocating the school. While at Collegiate, she also held roles as Director of Major Gifts, Associate Director of Development, and Assistant Alumni Director. Outside of independent schools, she was Development Officer for New York University, Campaign Gifts Officer for Weill Cornell Medical College, and Development Associate and Development Aide for New York Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Robert Vitalo, Vice President, Search and Consulting Services, and Practice Leader, Head of School Search
robert.vitalo@carneysandoe.com
Bob runs retained head of school and senior administrative searches and leads strategic planning with boards and heads. With experience in elementary, single sex, religious, and K-12 schools, Bob works with a wide range of schools on their leadership needs. Bob has been a frequent presenter at NAIS, NYSAIS, NBOA, and CASE. Bob served as Head of School at The Berkeley Carroll School (NY) from 2006 to 2019. Prior to BCS, he served as Headmaster at Fairfield Country Day School (CT) and Head of School at Media-Providence Friends School (PA) where he also held roles as Assistant Head of School and Head Teacher of the Lower School. He also taught at Grace Church School (NY) and in New York City Public Schools. Bob has served on committees and boards for the New York State Association of Independent Schools, Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, and International Coalition of Boys’ Schools, among others.

We are pleased to announce our search committee, which will be chaired by Trustee Santiago Rubin P’26 and includes representation from Hewitt's parents, alumnae, leadership team, and Board of Trustees:

Marlon Bustos P’24, Chair of the Board of Trustees
Thérèse Collins, Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management
Laura Greene Meltzer P’21, Vice President of the Board of Trustees
Laurie Gruhn '79, Trustee
Josie Holford, Trustee
Rachel Kless P’24, Trustee
Doug Odom P’23, Chief Financial and Operating Officer
Jessica Rosario-Calcaño P’28, P’33, Parents’ Association President
Santiago Rubin P’26, Trustee and Search Committee Chair 
Elizabeth Stevens P'21, Head of Upper School and Assistant Head of School
Tracey Wallace '73, President of the Hewitt Alumnae Council
William Young P'35, Director of Advancement

This September, our CS&A partners will complete a two-day site visit to Hewitt’s campus to conduct listening sessions with our community. Along with an online survey, these sessions will offer community members opportunities to tell us about the qualities and skills they value in Hewitt’s next head of school. We will use the information gathered during our in-person sessions and via the community survey to complete a head of school position profile. 

Throughout the fall, our consultants will conduct preliminary screenings of candidates. After preliminary and semi-finalist interviews during the fall, we will identify a group of finalists to bring to Hewitt for on-campus interviews this winter. 

Updates on our search process, including any changes to our projected timeline, will be provided through periodic emails and via this webpage. 

Dear Hewitt Community, 

As I shared with you in May, Dr. Tara Christie Kinsey will become head of school at Charlotte Country Day School in North Carolina in July 2025. Today, I write to share information about the search for our next head of school and to highlight and celebrate Dr. Kinsey’s lasting legacy at Hewitt. Together with Hewitt’s exceptionally strong leadership team, educators, students, and families, the Hewitt Board of Trustees stands firmly behind the School and looks forward to recruiting a strong and dynamic leader to continue the considerable momentum generated under Dr. Kinsey’s leadership. 

The Search for Hewitt's Next Head of School
Led by Trustee and Search Committee Chair Santiago Rubin P’26, the Board of Trustees has engaged Carney, Sandoe & Associates (CS&A) to conduct a comprehensive search for Hewitt’s next head of school. A leading educational recruitment, search, and strategic consulting firm, Carney, Sandoe & Associates has placed over 32,000 teachers and administrators in independent schools since 1977. The CS&A team partnering with Hewitt includes Leader of Head of School Search Practice Robert Vitalo, Leader of Development and Finance Practice Sara Shulman, and Senior Consultant Karen Neitzel. Robert, Sara, and Karen look forward to engaging with the Hewitt community this fall. 

We are pleased to announce our search committee, which will be chaired by Trustee Santiago Rubin P’26 and includes representation from Hewitt's parents, alumnae, leadership team, and Board of Trustees:

Marlon Bustos P’24, Chair of the Board of Trustees
Thérèse Collins, Director of Admissions and Enrollment Management
Laura Greene Meltzer P’21, Vice President of the Board of Trustees
Laurie Gruhn '79, Trustee
Josie Holford, Trustee
Rachel Kless P’24, Trustee
Doug Odom P’23, Chief Financial and Operating Officer
Jessica Rosario-Calcaño P’28, P’33, Parents’ Association President
Santiago Rubin P’26, Trustee and Search Committee Chair 
Elizabeth Stevens P'21, Head of Upper School and Assistant Head of School
Tracey Wallace '73, President of the Hewitt Alumnae Council
William Young P'35, Director of Advancement

We are committed to a transparent and equitable search and will share updates about the process as it develops. This fall, our consultants will visit Hewitt and will hold meetings with all of our constituencies. In these meetings, community members will be asked to share why they love Hewitt, what work our next head of school needs to engage in, and what skills are needed to be successful. Additionally, we will send out a community-wide survey that will invite your input. Please continue to check this webpage for updates on our search process and email us at HOS_search@hewittschool.org with any questions or comments. We will be in touch again at the start of the school year to provide more information about the schedule for your participation.

Dr. Kinsey's Legacy at Hewitt
Dr. Kinsey’s unshakeable belief in the power of a Hewitt education has been clearly evident since the moment she joined our school in 2015, and every member of this community - past, present, and future - has benefitted from her unwavering dedication to Hewitt. She has been a tireless champion for Hewitt, a steady presence in challenging times, and a deeply committed leader whose impact will last long after her decade at the helm. Dr. Kinsey was deeply inspired by the words of our founder Caroline Hewitt, who said, “It is the touch of life upon life that matters most in a school.” Whether welcoming new community members, connecting with parents and guardians at morning arrival, speaking at Convocation and Commencement, meeting with faculty and staff, singing in our community choir, cheering on our Hewitt Hawks, or chatting with students in the halls, Dr. Kinsey has embodied our founder’s spirit every day and made it her mission to authentically know and build connections with every member of our community. 

In July 2025, Dr. Kinsey will have left behind a strong and enduring legacy at Hewitt. During her tenure, she and her team have led our school toward tremendous growth in numerous areas, including academic and co-curricular programming; campus improvements; research on girls; and equity and community life. Under Dr. Kinsey’s extraordinary leadership, we have:

• Developed and implemented a new mission and strategic vision to emphasize Hewitt’s unique identity and value proposition in a competitive independent school market.
• Strengthened our academic program and reputation, resulting in higher standards for teachers, staff, administrators, and students – including the strongest college outcomes in our school’s history.
• Expanded our campus with the addition of Winslow Hall, thanks to an historic gift by alumna Ann Winslow Donnelly ’66 and generous donors to the Building Hewitt campaign. This in turn enabled us to increase upper school enrollment by 83% – the largest size in Hewitt’s 105-year history.
• Added high-impact co-curricular programs including an instrumental strings program, a competitive robotics team, our dedicated Hewitt Theater at St. Jean, and countless new innovative academic offerings, such as our Extended Inquiry program, to enrich a Hewitt education.
• Navigated, with profound skill and grace, some of the most difficult social and political challenges in recent history, including the Covid-19 pandemic.
• Differentiated Hewitt as a school that closes the research-practice gap for girls and young women by launching our new center to improve girls’ learning and outcomes.
• Created Hewitt’s Office of Equity and Community Life; appointed a director of equity and community life to senior leadership; embedded equity into the School's mission to tie academic programming and operational decision making to the concept of equity; established equity committees on the Board of Trustees and Parents’ Association; and diversified our faculty to better reflect our diverse student body.

We are grateful to have the 2024-2025 school year to recognize and honor not just Dr. Kinsey’s legacy, but also our mutual and ongoing commitment to providing an exceptional academic program that benefits every Hewitt student. I know you will join me and my fellow Trustees in expressing gratitude to Dr. Kinsey for all Hewitt has achieved under her leadership, and for her continued outstanding leadership and partnership in the year ahead. 

Thank you to the entire school community for your support as we launch our search. With our clear mission and vision, our dedicated faculty and staff, and our school-wide commitment to inspiring game changers and ethical leaders, we are confident that our search will attract strong and dynamic candidates to serve as our next head of school and continue to build on Hewitt’s successful 105-year legacy.

By Faith and Courage, 

Marlon Bustos P’24
Chair of The Hewitt School Board of Trustees

Dear Hewitt Community, 

It is with mixed emotions that I write to let you know that the 2024-25 school year will be my 10th and final year at The Hewitt School. In July 2025, I will begin a new position as the Head of School at Charlotte Country Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina. This opportunity appeared on my path unexpectedly and suddenly; in no way did I anticipate writing this letter as the school year began.

I love and will always love The Hewitt School. From the moment we arrived in New York in July 2015, this extraordinarily warm and supportive community embraced me and my entire family. It has been and continues to be an honor and privilege to serve as Hewitt’s eighth head of school, and I will always remember this era in my life as having been both magical and challenging in all the ways that one hopes for as a leader.

There are countless facets to my Hewitt experience that I will always cherish and keep near to my heart. Among them are the warm and genuine connections I have formed with students, faculty, staff, families, and alumnae; the way our community pulled together – and stayed together – through the Covid-19 pandemic and some of the most challenging social and political times in recent history; the authorship of a bold new mission and strategic vision to set a fresh and future-focused path for our school; and the tremendous advances we made to unlock the power of a Hewitt education to prepare our graduates for college, careers, and lives of meaning, purpose, and impact. 

Whenever I bear joyful witness to an alumna commending the rise of Hewitt’s local and national reputation; a parent celebrating the strongest college outcomes in our school’s history; a teacher engaging her students in ways that are informed by the latest research on girls and women; a student going out of her way to show loving-kindness to her classmate; an enthusiastic crowd cheering at an inspiring theater, athletics, or robotics performance; a new family telling us they chose Hewitt because they believe in our model of the “healthy, happy, high achiever”; or a student reciting our school’s mission by heart, I am Hewitt proud.

My husband Matt and I have also had the incredible privilege of watching our daughter Charlotte benefit from the transformative power of a Hewitt education, and her young life has been immeasurably shaped by the extraordinary teachers and friends who surrounded her in this nurturing and empowering community. Above all, I will treasure the connection, laughter, compassion, and kindness that define our remarkable school. Schools are only as strong as their people and community, and Hewitt is blessed in both respects.

In the world of independent schools, leadership transitions are often lengthy, and I am grateful to have more than thirteen months to continue working by your side to make Hewitt even stronger than it is today. There never is an ideal time to say goodbye to a community this special, but this decision is made easier by the knowledge that Hewitt is in excellent hands. With a remarkably committed Board of Trustees, the strongest leadership team I have ever worked with, an exceptionally talented faculty and staff, a passionately engaged and mission-aligned parent community, and the considerable momentum generated by our mission and strategic vision, Hewitt is poised for continued success and groundbreaking advances in girls’ education. I will forever be grateful for my chapter in the Hewitt story.

By Faith and Courage,
Tara Christie Kinsey