We are thrilled to announce Sabot's next Head of School - Emma Ferek!

Emma was selected from a diverse pool of candidates following a comprehensive national search led by our highly regarded consultants at TEG. The 12 members of the Search Committee—composed of members of the board, past and current parents, and members of the administration—deserve our deepest thanks for their diligence, care, and integrity throughout the selection process. We are also deeply grateful for the support and trust of the entire community during this journey.

Emma comes to us from Allen Academy in Bryan, Texas, where she currently serves as Associate Head of School for Enrollment Management & Community Engagement. She has 16 years of experience in independent schools, both as a classroom teacher and an administrator. Emma brings a deep commitment to the Reggio Emilia Approach® to education, along with a well-developed skill set in operational leadership, growth, fundraising, and strategic management.

This excerpt from Emma’s educational philosophy resonated deeply with us. During the discernment phase of the search process, we came to understand how fully and truly Emma embodies these words:

"When the foundation of education is centered around the student — their engagement, passions, and understanding, coupled with strong relationships, a shared lens of child development, and inviting, defined classroom spaces, children are able to maximize their unique potential. They will demonstrate curiosity as a social and academic learner, care for peers and adults, respect for the environment, autonomy, and the ability to represent their needs and feelings. I believe it is the role of every member of a school community to help guide, support, encourage, listen, and advocate for each child by being attentive to the whole child and their complete well being."

Please join us in celebrating and welcoming Emma, her spouse Brett, and their two children Grace and David. We are truly delighted they are joining the Sabot School community.

Warmly,

Grant & Micah

Dear Sabot Community,

We are excited at the progress the Search Committee has made and wanted to give an update to the whole community on some very important milestones.

Initial profile reviews and remote candidate interviews have been completed and finalists have been selected to come to Sabot for campus visits. This is a huge step forward in the search process and is the result of a lot of hard and careful work on the part of the search committee members.

The names and backgrounds of our finalists must still remain confidential, at this point, in order to maintain the integrity of the search process, but we wanted to inform everyone as quickly as we could that campus visits are being scheduled to begin next week. We realize the time table is a bit compressed, but it’s necessary due to overlapping commitments and the schedules of our four finalists. We are letting you know as soon as we knew.

And, we would emphasize that this plan is still subject to some change. We are providing only general scheduling information - i.e. “next week” - in the interest of giving everyone the most notice and insight into our process as possible. More details will follow as the dates are firmed up, and candidate information will become available as we come closer to the dates of their visits.

A huge thank you goes out to the search committee for the work they have already done and we thank you all for your continued support and faith in the process as that work continues.

As always, if you have any questions regarding the search, please direct them to sabotsearchcommittee@sabotschool.org.

Warmly,

Grant & Micah

Dear Sabot Community,

As the new school year begins, we wanted to take a moment to introduce ourselves to any new members of our community. As you may know, Sabot is looking for its next Head of School. We are lucky to have Dave Menges as Interim Head of School for the 2024-2025 school year and are excited for the work on the search that’s to be done this year.

As a quick recap, last spring the Board of Directors appointed us, Grant Shivelight and Micah Dalton, as the chairs for the Head of School Search Committee and selected a national firm, The Education Group (TEG), to lead the search. The Search Committee, made up of 12 members of our community, includes both parents and faculty and can be viewed here.

In May, Margaret Moore from TEG came to campus and spent time getting to know what makes Sabot, Sabot. She toured our campus, observed learning in action, attended the start of Umbrella Night, and spent time talking to students, teachers, parents, and the Board of Directors. Following this visit, the entire Sabot community was surveyed and asked to give feedback about what qualities they would like to see in Sabot’s next Head of School. The information from both the TEG visit and the community survey was compiled to create the Sabot School profile and Head of School position description.

Over the summer, TEG has been hard at work reviewing and vetting candidates who have applied to try to narrow our pool. This fall, TEG will deliver a portfolio of vetted candidates for the Search Committee to review and take next steps with. Be on the lookout for updates from us when we get to that point.

There was significant interest across the community in seeing the results of the survey, and we have included a full copy of those results as an attachment to this message.

Here are some clear highlights:

Participation

There were 147 responses in total, of which about 2/3 were current parents.

If a respondent falls into multiple constituency categories, then they are only counted once. For example, board members who are also current parents are counted in the current parent category.

Head of School Characteristics

In a professional sense, there was an overwhelming response that the most important qualities of our new Head of School would center around faculty retention, development, and engagement.

There was also a strong desire for a Head of School that aligns with Sabot’s values and is able to foster a clear sense of trust and community.

Hopes for the Future

Consistent across all responses is a desire for a strong emphasis on recruitment and retention, fostering school community, and further developing the mission of the school.

This survey was an important element informing the position description, alongside the documentation provided by the Board and program explanations provided by the faculty working group. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who responded. Every contribution of perspective leads us to a more comprehensive search and a more informed review of prospective candidates.

Dear Sabot Community,

As leaders of the Search Committee we have two responsibilities:

1. Provide a slate of candidates for the Board to make an offer to hire the Interim Head of School
2. Lead the Search Committee to make a recommendation to the Board to hire the new Head of School 

We’re thrilled that we have completed our first objective, and that the board has hired Dave Menges. Leading the recruitment for the Interim Head was a challenging and enriching experience. It helped remind us of how special Sabot is and of the need to hire a leader capable of stabilizing and healing the community to prepare for Sabot’s long-term head. During the process, we had the opportunity to speak with several of Dave’s colleagues which validated our opinions that he is the right leader for Sabot right now. Here are just a few things that people said about Dave during the recruiting process.

"With the addition of Dave Menges, the Sabot School community gains a uniquely skillful educator who leads with intelligence, compassion, a service-to-others ethos that is authentic and inspiring."

    - Andrew Spofford, Director, Outward Bound Professional, Hurricane Island Outward Bound School

“Dave Menges is a gifted educational leader whose energy, warmth, strong connections with students and adults alike, and pursuit of creative, powerful learning moments in and outside the classroom inspire all who work with him. He was a transformational leader for St. Christopher's Lower School, and his collaborative and empathetic leadership style will help any school take the implementation of its mission and vision to new heights.”

     - Charley Stilwell, Head of School, Episcopal High School

We look forward to you all having the same opportunity to meet Dave that we have.

Best,

Grant & Micah

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Families,

We want to thank you for your engagement with The Education Group (TEG) consultant, Margaret Moore, these past few days as she toured our school. During her campus visit, Margaret had lunch with our students (featured below!) and met with faculty members, parents, and administrators as she worked to learn all she could about our school—its defining characteristics, strengths and challenges, vision for the future, and the experience and qualifications sought in the next Head of School. Margaret was impressed not only with our school itself but also with the amount of support and participation from our community. She is eager to share her new-found knowledge with her partner consultant, Vicki Raney.

Our next step is to provide TEG with additional information through an online survey. This survey was prepared by TEG and is being sent to parents, faculty, staff, administration, and the board of directors. The survey will remain open until June 1, 2024, and we’re hopeful for broad participation.

TEG will compile this survey data, input from the meetings, the faculty work on the School profile, and information from school documents and publications to create the School and Position Profile. This key promotional tool will be used to generate interest in the opportunity and inform prospective candidates about our school.

To this end, we cannot emphasize enough the importance of this survey, and we look forward to full participation. Your time, insights, and candor are imperative as we assemble an accurate and comprehensive view of our school that will help attract and inform a first-rate pool of candidates. Please use the link below to access this survey and note that our deadline for responses is June 1. Thank you very much for your help!

We hope you enjoy the long weekend! 

Warmly,

Grant & Micah

Dear Sabot Faculty, Staff, and Families,

Happy Tuesday! We can’t believe the end of the school year is so close, and we are excited for the final events on the horizon. We are emailing today to share information about the search for the Interim Head of School and additional information about TEG’s visit on Wednesday and Thursday.

At Sabot, as with all other independent schools, hiring and governing the Head of School is a primary responsibility of the board of directors. In this unique circumstance, where we are hiring both an Interim Head as well as Head of School, the board has assigned us, as chairs of the search committee, two major responsibilities:

• Lead the search for Sabot’s next Head of School.
• Identify a slate of candidates to recommend to the board to serve in the role of Interim Head.

Interim Head of School Search

Upon being tasked to support the search for an Interim Head of School, we moved quickly to begin finding the right interim candidate to lead Sabot throughout next school year while we concurrently search for the next Head of School.

We have identified a strong pool of local candidates from a variety of sources, and are feeling optimistic about the range of candidates. We know that Sabot’s pedagogy is already in strong hands with the quality of our faculty and staff, so we are prioritizing leadership experience and are looking for a candidate with a strong track record who can help provide stability and prepare the school for the next Head of School. Some candidates have approached us directly, and others have been identified through recruiting efforts.

Our aim is to have an Interim Head of School in place by July 1, 2024. While we're committed to this timeline and finding the right fit for Sabot, we want to be transparent that achieving this goal may take time. However, we're optimistic about our prospects. We understand the significance of timing in such decisions, but rest assured, our focus remains on conducting a thorough and intentional search for the Interim Head of School. Though their tenure may be brief, we recognize the profound impact they will have on our community.

Looking ahead, we expect the Interim Head to be in place during the entirety of the 2024-2025 school year while we search for the next Head of School, who has a projected start date of July 1, 2025. During this time, the Interim Head will be accountable to and supported by the board, who will assist them in setting objectives and leading the school. The primary focus during the interim period will be on ensuring that students continue to receive a high-quality education in a supportive learning environment and that the community prepare for Sabot’s next long-term Head of School.

While we do plan on updating you as often as we can, please remember that ultimately this is a hiring process, with aspects that are confidential out of respect for those individuals involved in the process. We will continue to share decisions and milestones as they are achieved.

We recognize that you may have additional questions, and we want to assure you that the board is fully committed to selecting a highly qualified candidate to lead Sabot next year. Rest assured, the recruitment process for Sabot’s Interim Head is being conducted with careful consideration and efficiency, ensuring we find the right fit for our community's needs.

TEG Visit Details

We are excited for Margaret and Vicki from TEG to be on campus this Wednesday and Thursday. We look forward to coming together as a community to help them gain some insider knowledge on what makes Sabot so special.

On Wednesday, from 3:45 - 4:45 p.m., TEG will be meeting with faculty and staff in Founders Hall. Margaret and Vicki will remain available for drop-in conversation until 5:30 p.m.

On Thursday, the Open Meeting for Families will be from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. in Founders Hall. We hope to see many of you there!

On Thursday, Vicki and Margaret will also be taking a campus tour, meeting with administrators and the board, having lunch with our 8th graders, observing classrooms, and even attending the start of the Umbrella Project Celebration.

Following TEG’s visit, a survey will be sent out to gather additional thoughts from the greater community.

We want to end this email with a final word of gratitude for your participation and partnership in this process. As always, please feel free to reach out to us directly with any questions or thoughts at sabotsearchcommittee@sabotschool.org

Warmly,

Grant & Micah

Dear Sabot Faculty, Staff, and Families, 

We are excited to have The Education Group (TEG) visit Sabot’s campus on Wednesday and Thursday, May 22 & 23. We are pleased to introduce the two consultants leading our search effort for TEG:

Margaret Moore brings 20 years of experience as a former head of independent schools. Additionally, among other leadership roles, she served on the Board of VAIS and is currently serving on the Board of Trustees for her alma mater, Randolph College. She has broad experience in governance and development.

Vicki Raney brings 45 years of experience in education to her consulting work, including classroom teaching for both public and independent schools, division administration, and 16 years as an assistant head of school. Over the years, she has successfully recruited, hired, and mentored hundreds of teachers for independent schools and has recently completed several new successful searches for executive leadership positions.

Margaret and Vicki bring a wealth of experience and professionalism, plus a wide range of contacts from within the independent school ecosystem to our search. We are confident that our collaboration with them will result in a search that reflects the needs of our community and the strategic direction for the future of Sabot.

TEG Visit Schedule

Below is the schedule for TEG’s visit.

To Families: Please see the schedule below for the Open Meeting with Families on Thursday. This is your opportunity to meet our consultants in person and join the conversation.

To Faculty/Staff: Please see the schedule below for the Meeting with Admin/Faculty/Staff on Wednesday. This is your opportunity to meet with our consultants in person and share your valuable insights about the day-to-day experiences at Sabot.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2024

• 3:45-4:45 p.m.                 Meeting with Administration / Faculty / Staff

THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2024

• 8:15-9:15 a.m.                  Open Meeting with Sabot Parents and Families
• 9:30-10:15 a.m.                Campus Tour
• 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.       Consultants available for drop in meetings with lead administrative staff
• 12:15-12:45 p.m.              Lunch with 8th grade students
• 1:00-1:30 p.m.                  Meet with Board of Directors
• 2:00 - 2:45 p.m.                Classroom observations
• 6:30 p.m.                          Margaret will join us for the opening of the Umbrella Project Celebration.

Next Steps

Directly following the campus visit, the school survey will open for the entire community to provide feedback to TEG. We are encouraging 100% participation to gain as comprehensive a view into the life and needs of the school as possible.

Also, in order to facilitate the search, TEG will develop a written Profile of Sabot as an institution. This profile is built from multiple sources, but a central part of that profile is a description of our academic program. And there is no group better able to provide that information than our dedicated corps of classroom teachers.

To that end, we are creating a working group of teachers who will provide feedback to TEG about the pedagogy and programs at Sabot. This group will provide TEG with crucial documentation of Sabot's academic approach and qualities desired in our next Head of School. This will directly inform the school profile that will be used to attract qualified candidates.

Remember again, you can always reach out to us at sabotsearchcommittee@sabotschool.org with any thoughts or questions.  Thank you, again, to everyone for your interest in our search process and for sharing with us your important thoughts and perspectives.

 Warmly,

Grant & Micah

Dear Sabot Faculty, Staff, and Families,

It was wonderful to see so many of you at the Gala last weekend. The event truly showcased the strength and warmth of our school community as we came together to support our shared mission. Your presence and enthusiastic participation were inspiring, and it reminded us of the incredible dedication and commitment we all have to our school. Thank you for being a part of such a vibrant community.

As promised, we’re writing today to share more information about the Head of School search. Hearing your feedback for transparency and recognizing the unique nature of the search process, we will be sharing search updates concurrently to Faculty, Staff, and Families monthly or as needed. We understand that during a time of transition, things can feel uncertain, and we hope these regular updates help provide transparency about the progress of the Search Committee.

HoS Search Committee

We are blown away by the amount of interest in being part of the search for Sabot’s next long-term Head of School. We’re very grateful to the 12 people who have agreed to be a part of the Committee and thankful to all of those who raised their hands. There will be plenty of needs outside of committee service during this time and multiple additional opportunities to participate. We hope to engage as many of you as are able in other volunteer opportunities. We cannot express how much we appreciate all of the support, and we are honored to be part of a community so deeply invested in the success of our school.

After careful consideration, we are pleased to announce the 12 members of The HoS Search Committee:

Maggie Barrett - Sabot Faculty, Alumni Parent

Jonathan Becker - Board Secretary, Sabot Parent

Micah Dalton - Co-Chair, Board Member, Alumni Parent

Amy Hepburn - Board Member

Jess Khawaja - Sabot Faculty

Tamsen Kingry - Sabot Parent

Krystal Nowak - Sabot Parent

Elaine Phillips - Sabot Faculty

Brooke Purcell - Former Chair of the Parents Association, Sabot Parent

Grant Shivelight - Co-Chair, Board Member, Sabot Parent

Amanda Westlake - Chair of Parents@Sabot, Sabot Parent

Toni Winston - Outgoing Vice-Chair of the Board, Alumni Parent

Next Steps

Margaret Moore and Vicki Raney, from The Education Group (TEG), will be on campus on Wednesday and Thursday, May 22 & 23, to begin their on-site work. During this time, they will tour the school, observe classrooms, speak with parents, faculty, and administrators, and begin to develop our school profile to attract candidates to Sabot. 

Their purpose during these two days is to spend time getting to know our culture, our needs, and our hopes for the future of the school so that they can better understand what we are looking for in our next leader. We will share more information next week on how you can engage and participate during these two days.

Following TEG’s visit, there will be four additional opportunities to engage and provide input into the Head of School search and recruitment process:

1. A survey will be sent to the entire community on May 24 about the Head of School search. We are aiming for 100% participation so that all voices are heard. The results from the survey will be used to build the school's profile and help shape the Head of School requirements.
2. The finalists will be on campus later in the process where faculty, parents, and students will have the opportunity to meet the candidates.
3. Following the campus visits there will be another opportunity for feedback to the search committee in the form of a brief survey.
4. A Welcoming Committee will be formed to help the new Head of School acclimate to Richmond, to Sabot, and to the community.

Your input and participation is vital to the HoS search process.

Thank you so much for your enthusiasm and commitment both to this process as well as to Sabot School as a whole. Stay tuned for additional updates, and remember, you can always reach out to us at sabotsearchcommittee@sabotschool.org with any thoughts or questions.

Warmly,

Grant & Micah

Dear Sabot Community,

We are sending this email to recap the presentation given last night at the Parents@Sabot meeting, which gave details about the Head of School search. We are very excited to report that search committee membership is beginning to take shape. The currently seated members, in addition to us, are Toni Winston, Amy Hepburn, Maggie Barrett, and Amanda Westlake.

Some introductions for any who may not know all of us:

Toni Winston is the outgoing Vice-Chair of the Board and parent of a Sabot alumna.

Amy Hepburn is a recent addition to the board bringing a wealth of experience in HR and risk management, both areas of need on the board. Amy is also our first Board member from outside the Sabot community providing valuable independent perspectives.

Maggie Barrett is the Senior Administrative Liaison & DEIJB Outreach Coordinator at Sabot and the current Board Liaison. She is also parent of a Sabot alumna.

Amanda Westlake is the Chair of Parents @ Sabot and a current Sabot parent.

A huge thank you to everyone who has raised their hand to serve on this committee! It is a serious responsibility and a not inconsiderable level of effort. Further recruitment is ongoing and we expect the committee to be fully formed within the next couple of weeks to include additional members of faculty/staff and parents.

We understand that there’s great interest in this process; You can expect regular communications to give as much transparency as possible. That said, there does need to be confidentiality about some aspects, mainly the deliberations of the Search Committee, and the names of the candidates involved; both for the integrity of the process and people involved. The Search Committee will speak with one voice, and we look forward to sharing our progress with you.

The timeline (found on the HoS Search page) outlines the overall process we will follow through the search process. Here are some upcoming highlights:

• We have already begun gathering some very promising resumes for the Interim HoS position, who will start this Fall. This candidate will lead our community during the next school year as we select and onboard the HoS.
• The Education Group (TEG), our search firm, will be visiting Sabot on May 22 - 23 to meet our community and learn about our needs and goals.After visiting, TEG will send out an additional survey to parents and faculty/staff to gather additional information.

As expected, we are already seeing the community come together around this work and have every indication of continued success. Just a reminder that if you have any thoughts or questions you can reach out to us at sabotsearchcommittee@sabotschool.org.

We look forward to seeing you at the Gala tomorrow!

In partnership,

Grant & Micah

Dear Sabot Community,

This information was shared with our faculty and staff earlier this afternoon.

We’re writing today to share information about the search process for Sabot’s next Head of School. We look forward to engaging with you regularly as we move towards the shared goal of finding the right leader to guide our community through its next phase of progress. It is important that Sabot remain a place of wonder and learning as we embrace the coming changes, challenges, and opportunities that are before us.

The Sabot Board of Directors has appointed us to accomplish two goals:

1. Lead the search for Sabot’s next Head of School. We take this responsibility very seriously, and we will be assembling a talented and diverse search committee comprised of individuals who are equally passionate about the future of the Sabot and its leadership. The committee will include representatives from current families, faculty and staff, and board members.
2. Identify a slate of candidates to recommend to the board to serve in the role of Interim Head. We have already collected several candidates’ names and are optimistic that the Board will hire an interim Head of School by the summer.

After research and interviews, Sabot’s Board of Directors selected a national firm, The Education Group (TEG), to assist with the search. We are impressed by TEG’s experience in executive searches, their collective understanding of independent schools, and their commitment to helping us create a collaborative and inclusive search process. TEG search consultants Margaret Moore and Vicki Raney have been selected to assist the Search Committee in the recruitment and selection of our next Head of School. We are pleased to be working with an organization that, like Sabot, has a significant focus on relationships and relationship-building.

The Head of School search process is already in motion, and you can expect to receive regular communications to keep everyone updated on the status of the search. TEG will be on campus in a few weeks to meet with various constituent groups (faculty, administrators, staff, parents, the Board, and the Search Committee) to ask about skills and attributes they want to see in Sabot’s next Head of School. Additionally, all community members will be invited to complete a brief survey to share their thoughts in the coming weeks.

As Sabot begins its search, we are optimistic about all that the future holds for our school. Fall enrollment is strong and that reflects the strength and trust we all have in our talented faculty. We know that this search represents a pivotal step on that journey, and we encourage you to bring your voice to the process. To that end, we have established a mailbox (sabotsearchcommittee@sabotschool.org) for parents, faculty, and admin to share feedback throughout the process.

These are exciting days for the community to imprint Sabot’s values of Wonder, Learn, Care and Grow on the culture of the school. We, Micah and Grant, are so glad that you are part of Sabot and are grateful to the community for putting your trust in us.

Warmly,

Grant & Micah