Dear SDS Community,

On behalf of the Head of School Search Committee, I thank you for your time, attendance at sessions, questions, feedback, and support during this search process. Over the past two weeks, three finalist candidates and their spouses returned to Spartanburg for the first time since their initial semifinalist visits last month. They met with parents, faculty, students, administration, and trustees. During their visits, they asked thought-provoking questions of us and we of them in hopes of determining which candidate is the best fit for SDS. Each of these finalists commented on the overwhelmingly warm welcome they received from our community, the beauty of our spacious campus, our bright and articulate students, and (this one made me especially grateful) the overall sense of happiness and pride in our school that Griffins exude.

The last survey closes Sunday. Our search consultants will soon begin compiling the results and send them to the search committee for review. We will carefully read through that feedback. The search committee plans to meet after the holiday weekend to begin deliberations.

In the meantime, I hope you all have a well-deserved, restful weekend.

Sincerely,

Michel Stone

Dear Spartanburg Day School Community,

Happy Spring! I'm delighted to give you an update on the Head of School search process. Our consultants from The Education Group, Katherine, Dave, and Allison, were on campus last month meeting with faculty, staff, parents, students, and trustees. I hope you had a chance to visit with them. They enjoyed their time with us and left with great enthusiasm and fondness for SDS. 

Since their visit, members of the search committee have been working with the consultants to develop our Head of School position profile. After working through many drafts, we posted the final position profile (linked here) before spring break.

Our consultants have begun recruitment and the interview process with qualified candidates, and we look forward to meeting those candidates in the coming months. As always, please reach out to me or to any of our consultants with questions or comments about this process. The search committee, our consultants, and I value every SDS voice and perspective. Thank you for your trust and support!

GO GRIFFINS!

Regards,

Michel Stone

Dear Spartanburg Day School community,

Happy New Year to all! I am quite pleased to offer you an update regarding our search process for SDS’s next head of school. 

After interviewing several nationally recognized educational search firms, our committee has selected The Education Group (TEG). We were impressed by TEG’s knowledge of SDS and our region, their experience in recent head of school searches and their collective understanding of independent schools. Dave Davies, Allison Lorimer and Katherine Moncure Stuart will guide the search committee through the process of selecting Spartanburg Day School’s next head of school. 

With guidance from The Education Group, we have formed a search committee that will be conducting a comprehensive search process that will solicit valuable input from each of you. The search committee is composed entirely of trustees who are also current and former parents of SDS students.

• Michel Stone, search committee chair, board trustee & governance committee chair
• Jaime Wall, board of trustees president, board executive committee chair
• Marjorie Appiah, DEI steering committee chair
• Bear Boyd, Vision 2022 endowment campaign co-chair
• Alice Dawson, board of trustees vice president, board development committee chair
• Mark VanGeison, board investment committee chair
• Ned Page, board of trustees past president, board strategic planning committee chair
• Charlotte Verreault, sustaining trustee
• Billy Webster, sustaining trustee

While work is already underway virtually, the consultants will be on campus in the coming weeks to meet with various constituents within our school community, including faculty, staff, administrators, parents, current students and alumni. The committee will be sending a confidential survey to all constituents prior to the consultants’ visit to campus. This survey, along with the campus visit, will help our consultants develop a position profile highlighting the personal and professional qualities that SDS’s community seeks in its next head of school. 

Throughout this process, the search committee will provide periodic progress reports to the school community on the head of school search. Information will also be posted to the school's website. You may send information and candidate recommendations to Dave, Allison and Katherine, and, as always, I welcome your questions or feedback regarding the search process here: headsearch@sdsgriffin.org. I monitor this address and will respond to all emails promptly.

On a personal note, I want to thank the search committee. They have each stepped up unreservedly for this work, and I’m deeply grateful. It is of utmost importance to the search committee as representatives of the SDS community that 1) every SDS constituent have the opportunity to share their thoughts and perspective during this process, and 2)  that our consultants and the candidates they bring to us have a clear and thorough understanding of SDS’s culture and our community. Spartanburg Day School is unique and quite special in many ways! We are off to a fantastic start in our partnership with The Education Group.

GO GRIFFINS!

Warm regards,

Michel Stone

Dear Spartanburg Day School community,

On behalf of the board of trustees, I am pleased to provide an update regarding our head of school search. With Head of School Rachel Deems’s announcement that 2022-23 will be her final year at Spartanburg Day School, I was honored to accept the board’s nomination to chair the search for our next head of school. As an SDS parent and sustaining member of the board, I am truly thankful for Rachel’s decade of leadership and for the opportunity to lead this important process.

After researching more than 25 search firms, eight were carefully selected as best suited to guide SDS through our search process. Last week, those eight firms received a request for proposal (RFP), inviting them to submit their proposals by Dec. 10.

I have asked Trustee Mark VanGeison and Sustaining Trustee Charlotte Verreault to join Board President Jaime Wall and me to serve as a transition committee to carefully review those proposals and select finalists by Dec. 20. We plan to interview finalists the week of Jan. 3-7 with plans to announce our search consultant the following week. Upon hiring the search firm, we will work with our consultant to form a search committee to lead this process and ultimately recommend the next head of school to the board of trustees by fall 2022. The incoming head will assume the role on July 1, 2023.

It is very important to me that all SDS constituents have the opportunity to participate in this process; your input will guide our work in the coming months. As such, we will structure this process to facilitate a broad-based, inclusive, and thoughtful selection while balancing candidate confidentiality to encourage the widest range of interest. 

If you have questions or feedback regarding the search process, please direct them to headsearch@sdsgriffin.org, which has been established exclusively for the SDS head of school search. You can also find updates and information on our website.

Rachel’s inspired leadership over the past decade has transformed SDS and has put us in an extraordinarily strong position to attract the finest candidates for our next head of school.  I remain deeply grateful to her for her outstanding leadership, and, on a personal note, for the phenomenal educational experiences afforded my three children during her tenure.

Thank you for your support.

Warm regards,

Michel Stone
Head of School Search Committee Chair

Dear Spartanburg Day School community,

For the past 10 years, Spartanburg Day School has been extremely fortunate to benefit from the leadership and tireless dedication of Head of School Rachel Deems. The 2022-23 academic year will be Rachel’s last year with us; however, the transformational impact of her leadership will endure for many years to come. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to express our deep gratitude for and admiration of her numerous and significant contributions. Fortunately, and not surprisingly, Rachel has generously and thoughtfully provided us considerable advance notice so that we can conduct a successful search while she continues to lead the school during this time.

While Rachel will be deeply missed by our community, we look forward to celebrating her many achievements over the next 20 months. We are grateful to have a leader who champions academics, athletics, and the arts, successfully attracts and retains a high-quality faculty, and embodies and promotes SDS’s mission and values in all her endeavors. Please join me in celebrating the remarkable accomplishments at SDS during Rachel’s tenure: 

• Propelled endowment growth from $4 million in 2012 to approximately $38 million at the conclusion of the current endowment campaign. SDS's endowment per student far exceeds peer schools.
• Achieved strong enrollment (533 current students) with 2021-22 having the highest opening enrollment in 19 years.
• Welcomed the largest number of new students in 40 years in 2021-22 while achieving 9 percent attrition, significantly below the national average for independent schools of 12 percent.
• Consistently exceeded the Annual Fund goal for total funds raised of over $5.6 million.
• Led the Board of Trustees in forming a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Steering Committee composed of students, faculty, parents, division heads, trustees, and alumni.  In 2021-22, 31 percent of new students are students of color.
• Empowered excellent outcomes for graduating seniors with 97 percent of the Class of 2021 admitted to one of their top three colleges.
• Championed growth of and success in athletics with teams winning 29 state championships. 
• Navigated four years of national and international media while supporting a high-profile Division 1 recruit and the No. 1 NBA draft choice.
• Realized $1.7 million in capital improvements of the East Campus, including the Bob Allsbrook Tennis Complex.
• Renovated the Mildred H. Dent Fine Arts Center and increased endowed funds to support fine arts and fine arts scholarships.

The Board of Trustees will establish a search committee, chaired by board member and SDS parent Michel Stone, to hire our next Head of School. The committee will lead a national search in partnership with a third-party search consultant, and the incoming head will assume the role on July 1, 2023.  It is the intention of the search committee to communicate often with the SDS community via email and through our Head of School Search web page (www.spartanburgdayschool.org/headsearch). The search committee, in conjunction with our consultant, will solicit feedback from all constituents regarding your views on the search, the current state of SDS, and your hopes for the next head of school. Please expect to hear from Michel Stone in the upcoming weeks with more details on the search process. If you have any questions throughout the search, please email headsearch@sdsgriffin.org.

On behalf of the entire Spartanburg Day School community, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to Rachel for her exceptional service. As a result of Rachel’s efforts, SDS has a phenomenally strong foundation and the organizational capabilities to ensure her successor is in a superb position to capitalize on our tremendous momentum.

Sincerely, 

Jaime Wall
President, Spartanburg Day School Board of Trustees

Dear Spartanburg Day School Community,

If our lives are books in which many chapters are written, then we know those chapters have a beginning and an ending. Happily, a chapter’s end often leads to another’s beginning – one with great expectations of what lies ahead. I am writing today to share with you that the 2022-23 academic year will be my final year at the Day School. In June of 2023, I will have served for 11 years as your Head of School, a chapter of my life that has been written and in which all of you have played significant parts. What a joy it has been to serve and lead at Spartanburg Day School.

The Day School has been home since July 2012, and every day since my arrival I have been aware of the honor and privilege afforded to me to lead and learn alongside our faculty and students. The relationships developed and the memories made will remain a highlight of my professional and personal life long beyond my tenure with you. Thank you for welcoming Ken, Morgan Guice, and me and for the friendships formed and the support over the years.

This decision comes at a time when the Day School is in a strong position for a transition. Enrollment is at its highest in almost 20 years, the endowment has surpassed strategic goals and is on track to surpass $38 million over the next several years, and the faculty are among the most talented, creative, and committed professionals with whom I have had the pleasure of working alongside. Our board of trustees will be able to capitalize on these strengths and have the benefit of 20 months to plan and execute a search for the next head of school. We share a common goal and priority for a successful transition in leadership.

While we have accomplished much during this past decade, none of it compares to the daily work of our faculty who have provided an exceptional preschool-12^th grade education and experience for their students. They, and all who work alongside them, are committed to the mission of SDS and to the fulfillment of that mission in every student. What a pleasure it has been to experience this daily for the past 10 years.

And now, the months before me will be focused on fulfilling our remaining strategic priorities and preparing for the next leadership of our school. Thank you for your unwavering and generous support over my years with you and for your continued commitment to the success of Spartanburg Day School. Being a Griffin is a treasure – a treasure to secure for our current students and for future generations. I will always cherish my years as a Griffin, and I look forward to personally sharing my profound gratitude to you in the months ahead. 

Sincerely,

Rachel S. Deems
Head of School