Strategenius

We spent two days on campus at Christina Seix Academy last week as we begin the search for the school's next Head of School, and we're still reflecting on what we experienced.

At CSA, the word "village" isn't a metaphor. We saw it in every corner of campus: in bus drivers and houseparents who know students not just by name but by their families and hopes, in faculty and staff who show up for one another without being asked, and in students who told us, again and again, that CSA is where they are seen and where they belong. Even the first building visitors see says something important. It isn't an admissions office. It's a Welcome Center.

We are deeply grateful to Dr. Rob Connor, the Board of Trustees, and every student, family member, faculty and staff member who shared their time and their stories with us. It is a privilege to help CSA find the leader who will carry this extraordinary community into the future.

A full opportunity statement is coming soon. Click the link in comments to be notified upon its release. Nominations and expressions of interest are welcome now.

Catherine Cook School in Chicago, IL seeks a vibrant and innovative Enrollment Management Community Specialist. This position reports to the Director of Enrollment Management and is part of the Enrollment Management Team, which currently includes the Director and the Associate Director.

The Specialist will work closely with the Director across the full admission cycle, helping mission-aligned families move from first inquiry through enrollment. Over the course of the year, the Specialist will build the knowledge and relationships needed to provide continuity for the Enrollment Management Office, including carrying forward key responsibilities during the Director's upcoming leave.

Cook is seeking someone who loves bringing people together for the benefit of the school and its community. This individual will be eager to learn, results-driven, dependable, and entrepreneurial, and able both to take clear direction and to act independently.

Click the link in comments to read the full job description and learn how to apply.

NEW LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY

Northfield Mount Hermon NMH, a coeducational boarding and day school for grades 9 to 12, plus a postgraduate year, in western Massachusetts near the borders of New Hampshire and Vermont, seeks a visionary, strategic, and deeply human academic leader to serve as its next Assistant Head of School for Academic Programs/Dean of Faculty (AHoS/DoF).

Reporting to the Head of School Brian Hargrove, the Assistant Head for Academic Programs/Dean of Faculty serves as NMH's most senior academic leader, translating the school's mission and priorities into the daily realities of curriculum, faculty, and academic life. The role is both strategic and deeply hands-on: The AHoS/DoF sets long-term direction for NMH's academic program while remaining closely involved in the daily work of leading the faculty and shaping curricula. Success depends on strong partnership with the academic team, department chairs, and colleagues across campus life, human resources, and the broader senior leadership team, ensuring that academic leadership is connected to every part of the school's experience, including residential life and athletics. This is a rare opportunity for an experienced academic leader to take on senior leadership at one of the country's most distinctive boarding schools.

We now welcome you to read the full opportunity statement and learn how to apply (link in comments).

Strategenius's 2026-27 InspirED: Roundtable Strategy Sessions lineup is here! This year's series brings together practitioners and thought leaders to share strategies independent school leaders can put into practice immediately:

📅 Oct 13: Communicating with Clarity: Having Difficult Conversations with Parents, led by Nola-rae Cronan, Head of School, Carlthorp School

📅 Nov 10: Let the Learners Lead: Removing Barriers to Voice, Agency, and Shared Leadership, co-led by Rachael Thrash, Senior Director of Education & Innovation, Big Bad Boo Studios, and Mahtab Mahmoodzadeh, Assistant Head of School, Giddens School

📅 Dec 1: Be Like Water: Using Restorative Approaches to Let Go, Adapt, and Flow, led by Carla Young, Director of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access, Cranbrook Schools

📅 Dec 8: Designing the Middle, co-led by Abe Wehmiller, Assistant Head of School for Strategic Initiatives, One Schoolhouse, and Erin Rehel, PhD, Chief Operating Officer, One Schoolhouse

Whether you're a head of school, a seasoned administrator, or an aspiring leader, there's a session for you. Registration is free for employees of Strategenius Member Schools.

Register now: https://www.strategenius.org/events/inspired

Last week, Mary Rose Fernandez and Nancy Nanka-Bruce spent time in Brooklyn with the community at Mary McDowell Friends School as Strategenius kicked off the search for their next Upper School Assistant Director.

For more than 40 years, MMFS has been guided by the belief that special education is excellent education. That conviction came through in every discovery conversation, from the vision of its leadership team to the deep expertise of its specialists and the care everyone brings to understanding how each student learns.

A few days later, we were proud to sponsor and have Mary Rose and JohnEric Advento attend MMFS's inaugural BIPOC Homecoming, a celebration honoring the rich traditions and enduring excellence of HBCUs. Between the energy of The Marching Cobras of New York, a keynote from Alpha Phi Alpha General President Lucien J. Metellus, Jr., a Divine Nine panel moderated by MMFS alum Derrick Barnes ('23), and HBCU representatives sharing the pathways their institutions open for students, it was a vivid reminder of the culture, pride, and belonging at the heart of this community.

Thank you to everyone who welcomed us so warmly - especially, Head of School Andre del Valle, Associate Head of School Beth Schneider, and Assistant Head of School Tatesha Clark - and congratulations to the MMFS team on a joyful first Homecoming. We can't wait to help MMFS find a leader who will carry this work forward.

Stay tuned for the opportunity statement, coming by the end of October. Click the link below to sign up to be notified.
https://bit.ly/MMFS_US_AsstDir_NotifyMe

We are honored to announce our partnership with Christina Seix Academy in its search for the school's next Head of School, to begin in July 2027. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Rob Connor, CSA's co-founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees, and to the entire Board for entrusting us with this important work.

Located in Trenton, New Jersey, CSA is an independent school serving extraordinary young children from pre-K through 8th grade in an extended-day, year-round program. What makes CSA exceptional is how intentionally every part of its model is designed: academic rigor, character development, mentorship, and enrichment work together with close family partnership to create a community where students are known, challenged, and inspired to achieve at the highest levels.

A full opportunity statement is coming soon. Click the link in comments to be notified upon its release. Nominations and expressions of interest are welcome now.

NEW LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY

Jubilee College, a new vision of higher education based in Dunsmuir, California, is seeking a Lead Faculty to join their team as the first faculty hire. Reporting to the Co-Presidents and working alongside a Director of Operations & Programs, a team of co-founders and advisors, residential advisors, and visiting faculty, this person will have the opportunity to shape the college in every dimension: its curriculum and pedagogy, its residential culture, each student's learning experience, and the standards and practices that will define what it means to teach and learn at Jubilee for years to come. That is not a responsibility that comes along often in a professional career. It is, in the fullest sense, a founding role.

Jubilee seeks a Lead Faculty who will hold a strong container for students' deep inner work and development, effectively serving as a Chief Learning Guide. This is someone who has engaged seriously with "the academy," values what rigorous inquiry, research, and critical thinking from that tradition makes possible, and centers other ways of knowing as the source of a kind of intuition-creativity that is required for human beings to meet these times. Specifically, this is someone who understands that cultivating heart-wisdom from lived, embodied experience is primary, drawing from the world's spiritual traditions and from Indigenous and African Indigenous epistemologies.

To read the full opportunity statement and learn how to apply, click the link in the comments.

We are excited to announce TWO new searches for Making Waves Academy in Richmond, CA! Reporting to the Executive Director Elizabeth Martinez, Making Waves is seeking both an Upper School Division Director and a Middle School Division Director to start in July 2027.

To sign up to be notified when the opportunity statements are available, click the links in comments.

What a great day we had at The Helix School last week! Mary Rose Fernandez, Orpheus Crutchfield, and Nancy Nanka-Bruce had the privilege of spending time on campus in San Rafael as part of discovery for Helix's search for its next Executive Director, and everyone came away inspired.

We sat down with parents whose love for this community runs deep, Board members who bring real vision for what's next, a dedicated Leadership Team, and faculty who pour their hearts into their students every single day. Across every conversation, one thing was unmistakable: Helix isn't just a school, it's a home. A place where autistic and neurodivergent kids are understood, celebrated, and given every opportunity to thrive.

Huge thanks to the Helix Board of Trustees for the invitation, and for trusting Strategenius with a search this meaningful.

We're hard at work on the Opportunity Statement for Helix's next Executive Director, and it's coming soon. Know a leader who'd be a perfect fit for a school this special? Click the link below to sign up to be notified the moment it's live.

https://bit.ly/Helix_ED_NotifyMe

We are excited to announce a new search for Mary McDowell Friends School in Brooklyn, NY! Reporting to the Upper School Director, MMFS is seeking an Upper School Assistant Director to start in July 2027.

To sign up to be notified when the opportunity statement is available, click the link below:
https://bit.ly/MMFS_US_AsstDir_NotifyMe