Dear Parents/Guardians,

We want to update you on the Head of School (HOS) search process and to let you know about a couple of upcoming meetings planned specifically for our current parent body.

As you read in Board Chair Eve Niquette's announcement letter on January 24, we have engaged the educational consulting firm Resource Group 175 (RG175) to assist Urban and the Search Committee in attracting and hiring Urban's next HOS. RG175 has completed dozens of personnel searches for independent schools, including school heads. We have the utmost confidence that RG175 and our two consultants, Coreen Hester and Clay Stites, are well-qualified to help Urban choose a new leader aligned with the school's history, its distinct culture and most importantly, its brilliant future. Please see the bios of Coreen and Clay at the end of this note.

Our goal as the Search Committee is to provide our Urban community with a process that is systematic, comprehensive and efficient. The next step in this process is to help Coreen and Clay get to know Urban in order that they can identify qualified candidates who align with Urban's core values and culture. Following their visit, they will produce a position statement that describes the school and what Urban is seeking in our next HOS.

Coreen and Clay will be visiting Urban from Wednesday-Friday, February 21-23. During that time, they will meet with parents/guardians, students, alumni, faculty/staff, administrators and trustees. This is our opportunity to share our point of view and help them understand the true spirit, depth of philosophy, and ethos of Urban. Urban parents have these opportunities to provide input to Coreen and Clay:

1) In-Person Parent/Guardian and Alumni Council Forum
Wednesday, February 21, 5:30-6:30 pm
Salkind Center – Redwood

or

2) In-Person Parent/Guardian Forum
Friday, February 23, 8:30-9:30 am
Page Campus – Blue Rooms


NOTE: These forums include a brief presentation followed by a Q&A discussion. We encourage parents to attend for the entire time.

3) Online survey of the community. We encourage all of you to participate in the survey, even if you also plan to attend one of the meetings. Watch your email for further information on the survey.

Coreen and Clay will also meet with the co-presidents of Urban's Parent/Guardian Association.

Additional information about the search can be found at www.urbanschool.org/headsearch. Thank you for your participation in this important process!

Best regards,

Shannon Cogen                           Scott Sklar
(Jack '18 & Tess '21)                    (Emily '16)
Search Committee Co-Chair       Search Committee Co-Chair

Clay Stites is one of the founders of Resource Group 175 and has completed more than 100 head searches during the past 20 years. He is based near Philadelphia and has extensive experience with schools and candidates all over the US. Schools where he has done searches in the Bay Area include College Prep, Crystal Springs Uplands, San Francisco Friends, Cathedral School for Boys and Presidio Hill. Clay was head of two schools, Friends Academy and Curtis School, for a total of 20 years and holds a BA from Haverford College and an MFA. from New York University.

With nearly 40 years in education, Coreen Hester has recently completed 20 years as a Head of School: 10 at The Hamlin School in San Francisco and 10 at The American School in London in St. Johns Wood, London. From 1991-95, Coreen established the west coast office of the recruitment firm, Independent Educational Services, then based in Princeton, NJ, and the historical partner of RG175. In her time with IES, Coreen visited more than 120 schools in the western US and successfully placed hundreds of middle leaders and teaching positions west of the Mississippi. She currently sits on the board of the Academy of International School Heads and recently completed a term on the Educational Collaborative in International Schools. Coreen joined RG175 in July 2017. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from Stanford University.