Saint Thomas Academy Names Kelby Woodard Headmaster

The Board of Trustees is responsible for selecting and hiring the next Headmaster for Saint Thomas Academy.  To facilitate the search process, the Board of Trustees established a search committee that will recommend a Headmaster candidate to the full Board of Trustees for vote and approval.  A list of the search committee members is listed on the right hand side of this webpage.

The Board has retained the nationally recognized search firm of Wickenden Associates to assist in the search and serve as consultants to the Search Committee throughout this process.  We encourage you to visit their website at wickenden.com to get a better sense of their expertise, professionalism and successful placements.

Wickenden Associates search consultants assigned to our search are Eric Peterson and Amy Shen.  

August 1, 2019:  Appointment of Rear Admiral John E. Crowley, Jr. as the Interim Head of School for the 2019-20 school year

September 2019:  Search Committee is announced

October 2019: Saint Thomas Board selects Wickenden Associates as the firm to help lead the search for our next Headmaster

Oct. 31-Nov. 1, 2019: Search consultants Eric Peterson and Amy Shen on campus to meet with parents, faculty, and administration

Winter: Candidate evaluations and interviews

Late Spring: Appointment of new headmaster

The Board of Trustees sets and monitors the mission of the school, fiduciary matters and establishes the policies for the operation of the school. The Board is also responsible for selecting and hiring the next Headmaster.

To facilitate the search process, the Board created a search committee that will recommend a Headmaster candidate to the full Board of Trustees for vote and approval.

A list of the search committee members is listed to the right.

The Search Committee is responsible for steering the search process with the guidance and support of Wickenden Associates. The Search Committee will assess a highly qualified pool of candidates presented by Wickenden Associates. They will organize and conduct interviews with the semifinalists and finalists. At the end of the process, the Search Committee will recommend a final candidate to be confirmed by the Board of Trustees. Once the new Head of School is chosen, the Search Committee will facilitate the leadership transition. A key role of the Search Committee is to keep the Saint Thomas Academy community informed and engaged throughout the process while respecting the confidentiality of the candidate recruitment process.

The community has been identified into the following constituent groups: 

• Faculty
• Administration and staff
• Alumni, past parents and friends of the Academy
• Mothers' Club
• Fathers' Club

The search committee is committed to creating a process that will be as transparent and inclusive as possible. Each of these constituent groups have been surveyed and their feedback is being incorporated into the search process.  Their feedback will be incorporated into the interview and feedback portions of the search process.  

The Search Committee and Wickenden Associates will manage all the day-to-day activities involved in the head of school search. Our faculty, staff and administrators will remain focused on their primary goal of providing our cadets with an outstanding educational experience.

Wickenden Associates and the Search Committee will draft a comprehensive job prospectus that outlines opportunities and challenges facing the institution and defines the ideal leader. Over several weeks, Wickenden Associates will build a pool of qualified candidates by capitalizing on its broad national reach and deep network. Community members are encouraged to recommend individuals they feel should be considered.

Our goal is to select a new Headmaster in late spring of 2020, with the new Headmaster starting on July 1, 2020.

Updates regarding the search will be shared through the web page for the community when particular milestones have been reached. 

The Board of Trustees is responsible for hiring Saint Thomas Academy’s Headmaster. During the search process, the Board, through the Search Committee, will seek input from the entire community, but the final hiring decision will be made by the Board.