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Head of School Selection Process

 

After what will be 10 years of service as Head of School, Thomas G. Lengel P'12 announced that he will retire as Holy Child School at Rosemont's Head of School in June of 2023. The 2022-2023 school year marks his seventeenth year at Holy Child, and we will remember his term as Head by the way he lived out the motto of our foundress Cornelia Connelly, "Actions, Not Words." We are a mission-driven school, guided by the seven Holy Child Goals that serve as the foundational principles for our approach to education. Our community looks forward to welcoming the next Head who will continue the important work of the school while being guided by our mission and values. 

 

 

Search Process

The Board of Trustees, in collaboration with consultants at Carney, Sandoe & Associates and the Head of School Search Committee, is managing the search for the next Head of School to lead Holy Child School at Rosemont. All members of our school community will have opportunities to participate during this exciting time in our school's history. Please see the preliminary timetable below and note that this will be updated in the weeks ahead.

Carney, Sandoe & Associates

The Search Consultants Carney, Sandoe & Associates will conduct the search for our next Head of School. Carney Sandoe brings a depth of knowledge to both the independent school and Catholic school markets. The firm has led searches for nationally recognized schools and for schools within our broader community, including The Haverford School, Malvern Preparatory School, La Salle College High School, and many others. Carney Sandoe has deep experience with handling searches for top independent Catholic schools like ourselves. 

Following the community-input phase in the fall of 2022, our consultants at Carney Sandoe, in concert with the Search Committee, crafted a position description for prospective candidates. The position description provides an overview of our school and its history, the current and future needs of our school, and the desired qualifications and qualities of the next Head of School to inform and compel the best candidates to engage in our search process.

If you have any questions about this process, or if you have someone to recommend for the Head of School position, please email our consultants directly: Bob Vitalo can be reached at robert.vitalo@carneysandoe.com and Burke Zalosh is available at burke@carneysandoe.com.

Holy Child School at Rosemont's Head of School Search Committee Members

The Head of School Search Committee has the responsibility to engage a recruiting firm and identify candidates for a successor for the Head of School, who will then be presented to the full Board of Trustees. We are extremely grateful to this committee, which includes current parents, past parents, alumnae, and educators.  

Kane Brenan P’16’18’23’25 — Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, Current Parent

Tara Hayden Buchakjian ’97 P’26’27’29 — Alumna, Chair of the Committee of Trustees, Current Parent

Irene Hannan P'93'01 GP'32 — Trustee, Former Parent, Chief Executive Officer of Faith in the Future

Amy Lintner — Trustee, Head of School at Ancillae-Assumpta Academy 

Alexis Morsell P’23’23’25 — Longstanding Faculty Member, Current Parent 

Steve Schreder P’13’15’18’23 (Co-Chair) — Trustee, Former Finance Chair, Current and Past Parent

Judi Taylor P’14’16 — Chair of Board of Trustees, Past Parent

Anne Schoemaker Vazquez ’95 P’25’27’30 (Co-Chair) — Alumna, Trustee, Current Parent

Preliminary Timetable

This timeline provides a framework for the search process and may be adjusted by our consultants if necessary.

Month Milestone
June 2022 Announcement of Tom's retirement; selection of the Search Committee
July 2022 Vetting and selecting the search firm; announcing search process to Holy Child Community
August 2022 Soliciting community feedback through focus groups; recruiting and vetting qualified candidates
September 2022 Soliciting community feedback through focus groups; recruiting and vetting qualified candidates
October 2022 Recruiting and vetting qualified candidates by Carney, Sandoe & Associates
November 2022 Recruiting and vetting qualified candidates by Carney, Sandoe & Associates
December 2022 Finalist candidates engage with Holy Child Community
 January 2023 Board of Trustees selects and announces next Head of School
February 2023 Board of Trustees selects and establishes the Transition Committee
July 2023 New Head of School begins July 1, 2023

 

 

The Archives: Letters from the Head of School Search Committee and Board of Trustees