Board of Trustees – HOS Search Update 9/29/22

September 29, 2022

Dear PCS Family,

As you know, this past summer, Dr. Allen Smithers graciously agreed to return as Interim Head of School while the search is conducted to find our next long-term Head of School. A search committee has been established to assist the Board of Trustees in finding the best candidate to fill this position.

As we recently shared with you, Southern Teachers was selected as our search firm for this process because of its stellar reputation for understanding the unique culture of schools and producing high-quality candidates. Our consultants will be Pat Taylor who retired as Headmaster of Jackson Academy and works out of Mobile; Kirk McClintock, whose most recent school position was at St. Mary’s in Memphis and works out of Tunica; and Jamie Estes, Director of Searches, who works in the main office in Virginia.

 

The consultants from Southern Teachers have hit the ground running. Pat and Kirk will be on campus mid-October to conduct interviews with various constituent groups. The results of these meetings, as well as, other information the school has provided will be used to create the position profile. This profile will be distributed nationally through advertising media (such as independent school associations), the consultants’ networks, and on our website for all our community to see and share.

Over the following weeks, our consultants will be busy sourcing candidates. They will handle the receipt of resumes, conduct phone interviews, and perform initial reference checking. We expect to have a strong pool of candidates from which to narrow down the semi-finalists. We will conduct interviews with the semi-finalists this fall, and further narrow that group down to about three finalists, who will be brought to campus and interviewed by the search committee and various stakeholder groups likely this January.

 

Our goal is to identify the new Head of School and to make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees in early February, with that person accepting and an announcement made to the school community soon after. This, we hope, will allow for ample time for a smooth transition.

This is a very exciting time in the life of our school, and we encourage you to follow our progress on the school’s website or contact us with any questions.

Sincerely,

Ali Stayer

Search Committee Chair

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