Dear St. Michael's Community,

I am writing to you with important news.  With sadness and deep appreciation for his role at St. Michael’s, Michael Turner’s has informed the Board of Directors that this school year will be his last with us as Head of School.  As you will read in his attached heartfelt letter, in July he will return to his hometown of Philadelphia to lead The Shipley School.  This chance to be closer to family while expanding the impact of his work at a school of over 825 students was too great an opportunity to let pass.

As you know, Michael has led St. Michael Episcopal School’s through an important period of transition, program growth, and development.  Michael has been a dedicated leader and during his tenure, the School has hired outstanding education professionals; increased enrollment; updated its marketing and communications; developed a strategic plan that will guide the School towards continued success; improved technology and safety; and maintained its excellent financial standing.  Most visibly, the St. Michael’s community has been brought together as one as perhaps best reflected by the ongoing transformation of the Singleton Campus and the opening of the new Hubbard Hall building this fall.

Michael has kept me closely informed. Thus, the Board has been able to move quickly to begin a search for the next Head of School.  We have retained Dr. George Conway, of Independent Educational Services, to help guide the process.  Dr. Conway consulted on our last head of school search and has conducted our annual engagement surveys for the past three years.  His expertise and intimate understanding of the St. Michael’s community will allow him to begin identifying candidates immediately. Dr. Conway welcomes any nominations that members of the St. Michael’s community have for potential candidates. You can reach him at gconway@ies-consulting.org.

The Search Committee includes Craig Amos, Chris Gorman, Caroline Jennings, Eric Nedell, Lisa Schuster, Phil Strunk, and John Vetrovec. I will chair the Committee, and the work of the Committee is already underway. We are confident that we will have a smooth leadership transition.

St. Michael’s Episcopal School is in a strong position to attract our next leader who will join us at an exciting time in the School’s history. The Board of Directors is focused on this very important process and we promise to keep you informed as we move ahead. I hope you will always feel free to contact me at kdaniel@hancockdaniel.com or (804) 967-9604 with any questions you may have.

Sincerely,