Dear Members of the Pomfret School Community,
Earlier this month, Head of School J. Timothy Richards announced that he will step down at the end of the 2024–25 school year, roughly eighteen months from now. Immediately following the announcement, Board Chair Justin P. Klein ’65 asked me to convene a Head of School Search Committee.
Today, in accordance with Article III of the by-laws of Pomfret School and with approval of the Pomfret Board of Trustees, I am pleased to announce that the following thirteen individuals have been appointed to serve on the newly formed committee.
- Daryle Bost ’89, Trustee – Chair
- Mark Cohen ’82, Trustee
- Gwyneth Connell, Administrative Faculty
- Trina Gary, Trustee
- Ashley Goethals, Staff
- Molly Hanson ’00, Trustee
- Martha Horst P ’13, ’15, ’19, ’22, Administrative Faculty
- Greg Melville ’68, Trustee
- Tanya Nongera-Nickerson, Faculty
- Lindsay Paul P ’14, ’17, ’21, Trustee
- Sean Rhatigan P ’25, Trustee
- Stephanie Schuetz ’00, Trustee
- Stephen VanHoesen, Faculty
The committee includes eight trustees, two administrative faculty, two teaching faculty, and one staff member. Each member of the committee embodies the very best qualities of our School, and I am confident they will represent Pomfret’s stakeholders well.
Search Firm
Today, I am also pleased to announce that the committee has selected RG175, a premier executive search firm staffed by a host of long-serving, successful heads of school to partner with us. RG175 has decades of experience conducting successful high-profile national and international searches for independent school leaders. RG175 consultants John Green, Hamilton Clark, and Marcia Prewitt Spiller will co-lead the effort. Their work is based on integrity, inclusivity, knowledge, transparency, and flexibility, and I believe the depth of the RG175 team and its collaborative, engaged approach will serve Pomfret well in the weeks and months ahead.
Before joining RG175, John worked for thirty-two years at a range of independent schools, including Fessenden School, Western Reserve Academy, and St. Paul School. In 2001, he was appointed head at Peddie School in New Jersey, retiring in 2013. John has served as a trustee at Choate-Rosemary Hall School.
Ham began his career right here at Pomfret before moving to Buckingham Browne & Nichols School. After a stint at Zurich International School, he was appointed head of Sewickley Academy in Pittsburgh, where he served for fifteen years. He next led Episcopal Academy in Philadelphia for eleven years. Ham is the past president of the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools and served on the board of Noble and Greenough School, among others.
Marcia is the former senior vice president for academic and student life at Woodward Academy in Georgia. Prior to this position, she was head of The Children’s School in Atlanta for more than two decades. In 2009, she was elected chair of the board of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS). She is also a former board chair of the Enrollment Management Association (EMA) and a current board member at Western Reserve Academy in Ohio.
Next Steps
Next week, you will receive an online survey from the search committee seeking your input. The results will help us better understand what you value in a leader. In addition, RG175 will visit campus to hold listening sessions with Pomfret stakeholders and key decision-makers. Together, the input we gather from the survey and the listening sessions will inform and guide the creation of the head of school position profile, which we expect to release in February.
As a reminder, the search committee has set up a Head of School Search webpage with the latest information about the search. In addition, I intend to send periodic updates (like this one) as the search progresses. In the meantime, I look forward to hearing from you. On behalf of the Head of School Search Committee and the Board of Trustees, thank you for your steadfast commitment to Pomfret School.
Sincerely,
Daryle Bost ’89
Head of School Search Committee Chair
Board of Trustees Vice Chair