Headmaster Announces New Leadership Positions

Headmaster Jason Robinson announced new administrative appointments and leadership positions for the 2019-20 academic year, which will enrich our program and help St. Albans meet emerging priorities. Noted Robinson: “When I reflect on the opportunities that lie before us, I am excited to begin discussing new initiatives and areas of school life where we can build on historic strengths while also continuing to grow and improve.”

Included among the appointments are several new positions that will provide fresh approaches and strong support to both original and ongoing initiatives. A newly created position of assistant head of school for advancement and strategy will strengthen the school’s external relations, providing strategic leadership in development, alumni and parent relations, communications, long-range enrollment planning, and external partnerships, integrating our work in these interconnected areas and seeking new opportunities for alignment and advancement of key institutional priorities.

A new Community Life Leadership Team will deepen and enrich the school’s commitment to spiritual and ethical education, community service, diversity, and inclusion. Included on the team will be the school’s first dean of community life as well as the school’s first-ever director of diversity, equity, and inclusion. The senior chaplain, the director of the Skip Grant Program, and several faculty deeply supportive of service and diversity efforts will also join the newly formed team.

“A consistent theme I have heard from faculty and students since my arrival last July is the need for us to invest more time and resources in conversations related to character education, school culture, and community life,” said Robinson. “This work is deeply embedded in our mission and is critical to our future.”

Please join us in congratulating the following faculty and staff and thanking them for taking on these critical new roles:

Suzanne Woods will become our next associate head of school, a position she has filled on an interim basis since July 2018. Noted Headmaster Robinson: “Suzanne has proven to be such a wonderful school leader—and such a trusted friend and counselor—that I asked if she would consider continuing in the role. She has generously agreed to do so and will bring to the position her wisdom, strength of character, and the abiding respect she enjoys among students and faculty at both St. Albans and NCS.”

Greg Parker, longtime director of finance and business operations, will assume the new title of assistant head for finance and operations. “There is no title of sufficient breadth to capture everything he does for St. Albans and the wisdom, experience, and humanity he brings to our community,” said Robinson.

Tyler Casertano, who has served the school with distinction as a teacher, coach, advisor, and director of admissions, will assume the new role of assistant head for advancement and strategy, integrating our work in development, communications, and admissions; seeking new opportunities for alignment and advancement of key institutional priorities; thinking more deeply about how we articulate our mission, culture, achievements, and aspirations to current and prospective stakeholders; and identifying new strategic initiatives that expand our reach and reputation for excellence.

Joe Viola, former Upper School psychologist and current Lower School academic dean, will become our new director of admissions, leading the operational components of our school’s admissions work. Joe has been involved in admissions work at St. Albans for many years, serving on Admissions Committees in both the Lower and Upper School, conducting student interviews, leading admissions tours, and presenting at admissions functions. He will bring to this role a deep knowledge of our academic program and our student life curriculum, and extensive experience as a school counselor supporting our students and families.

Bobby Cpin, who currently serves as our executive director for annual giving and alumni relations, will become the school’s new executive director for development and alumni relations, overseeing day-to-day operations within our Development Office. Since joining St. Albans as associate director of annual giving, Cpin has been instrumental in growing that program through his dedicated and thoughtful work with major reunion classes.

Nicole Chapin Duke, the outstanding associate director of our School of Public Service, will become the program’s next director while continuing to teach history in the Upper School.

Rachelle Sam, who took a leave this year to complete her ordination as an Episcopal priest, will return as the school’s first Dean of Community Life. She will also teach Form III religion and serve as our new Upper School chaplain. Sam has a special interest in deepening St. Albans’ commitment to community service and will lead our school’s efforts in this area, while also helping us develop an integrated community life curriculum that coordinates our work in community service, advisory, assemblies, and character education, all within the framework of our spiritual mission as a church school.

Kristin Elliott will become the school’s first Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She will bring to this work her experience as a respected Lower School teacher, a strong spiritual foundation from her doctoral program in Ministry in Educational Leadership, and her extensive experience as a diversity practitioner. For next year, Kristin will remain in the classroom as a C Form teacher while also taking on this new role as Director of Diversity.

Brooks Hundley will become our senior chaplain, overseeing the spiritual life of the entire school, mentoring the Upper and Lower School chaplains, teaching our seniors in our Encountering God course, and serving as an important spiritual advisor to our community life programming.

The Community Life Leadership Team will also include Donna Denizé, chair of the English Department, faculty advisor to our Cultural Awareness Organization (CAO), and one of the most important architects of our annual Diversity Day; Jim Ehrenhaft ’83, long-serving teacher of ethics and religion, championship cross-country coach, and a passionate advocate for character education, who will focus on strengthening our Upper School Advisory Program by unifying it thematically and connecting it more purposefully to other important community life conversations and initiatives; and O.J. Johnson ’97, director of our Skip Grant Program and basketball coach.

“We very much want our Community Life Program to become a shared faculty and staff undertaking,” noted Robinson. “While the individuals noted above will be important leaders in this work, my hope is that many voices will become part of this conversation and that abundant opportunities will exist for faculty and staff to become meaningfully engaged in its advancement.”