Leadership Head of Pinewood Preparatory The Position Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville, SC, seeks a Head of School to lead a community of 662 students and 64 faculty. The anticipated starting date for the next Pinewood Head of School is July 2018, but a July 2019 start date is possible for an exceptional candidate. With origins dating back to 1952, Pinewood is Summerville s oldest and largest independent school. Summerville is a thriving, historic town of 50,000 residents twenty-five miles west of downtown Charleston. Pinewood s next Head of School will lead a wellestablished, vibrant school that is soundly governed by a Board of Trustees possessing a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities ahead. The next Head of School will ensure the school s continued excellence, while remaining solidly grounded within the Pinewood Mission and the Pinewood Vision which have made us a community of success. The leadership structure is clear and uncomplicated with a small number of capable administrators reporting to the Head of School. Pinewood s four Assistant Heads total more than a half of a century of service to the school. Focused on the Pinewood Mission and the Pinewood Vision, our community values dedicated teaching by well-qualified faculty and experiential learning by enthusiastic stu dents. As a result, Pinewood has enjoyed many years of inspirational and charismatic leadership and strong faculty retention.
The Pinewood Vision Pinewood Preparatory School will prepare students to excel in college and inspire them to make a positive impact on the world by equipping them with critical thinking skills, global perspective, and respect for core values of honor, truth, and compassion. The Pinewood Mission Pinewood is dedicated to excellence in the intellectual, physical, ethical, and social development of its students, families, faculty and staff. The Pinewood family strives to engage and enrich community, both locally and globally. The School Founded in 1952 as Pinewood School, Pinewood Preparatory School is the product of a 1980 merger with The Summerville Academy. Pinewood School was founded by Mrs. Henrietta M. Allan, and housed in the historic Brokaw Mansion in downtown Summerville. Beginning with 52 students in grades 1-8, Pinewood School quickly expanded to include a pre-school, grades 9 and 10 with a boarding component, and a summer school in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. The Summerville Academy was founded in 1969 as a K-12 college preparatory school in downtown Summerville. In 1974, The Summerville Academy moved to a new 17-acre campus four miles west of downtown Summer ville. Following the merger of Pinewood School and The Summerville Academy, Pinewood Preparatory School moved its operations to the former Summerville Academy campus in the autumn of 1981. Since then, the Pinewood campus has grown to 43 acres.
Pinewood is organized into three divisions: Lower School (PK3 5), Middle School (6-8) and High School (9-12). Because all three divisions share the same campus, interaction among younger and older students provides camaraderie and opportunities for older to students to act as role models and promote personal and social responsibility. This also ensures that teachers know and follow the paths of students across grade levels and divisions. The Pinewood curriculum is characterized by small class sizes, rigorous academics, and challenging co-curricular activities - all led by a talented and nurturing faculty. Pinewood offers honors courses as well as 14 Advanced Placement courses and several concurrent enrollment courses in partnership with a local university. Highlycompetitive athletics and challenging fine and performing arts programs are ingrained within the Pinewood experience. Pinewood emphasizes global awareness and character education. An active service learning program seeks to develop a sense of identity, responsibility, and purpose in students in relation to their surrounding community. As Pinewood has evolved over time, unique aspects of the school remain constant experiential learning, small classes, dedication to community, and a sense of family. Pinewood aspires to be exceptional in all things. The school s location - in a thriving, historic town within commuting distance of Charleston - provides ideal opportunities for an aspirational leader to continue Pinewood on its path toward excellence.
Pinewood is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS), the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS), and the Palmetto Association of Independent Schools (PAIS). The school was first accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) in 2001, and received dual accreditation from SAIS and AdvancED (formerly SACS) in 2006, 2011, and 2016. Recent Pinewood graduates have matriculated at numerous prestigious national universities and colleges including Duke University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, and Wake Forest University. More than 70% of Pinewood graduates attend their first choice of institutions of higher learning to include excellent in-state schools such as Clemson University, College of Charleston, Furman University, The Citadel, University of South Carolina, and Wofford College.
The Faculty A core group of distinguished long-serving teachers, more than 60% of whom hold advanced degrees, has ensured the continuity and strength of the curriculum that features both rigorous academic preparation and rich co-curricular offerings. Pinewood s classrooms are alive with enthusiastic exchanges of ideas, experiences, and discoveries. With a student-teacher ratio of 10:1, teachers know students well and strive to learn how each student learns best. Governance The school is governed by a not-for-profit, self-perpetuating Board of Trustees comprised of parents, former parents, professional educators, and alumni. This is a unified, dedicated Board that reaches consensus amicably with the best interests of the students in mind. The Opportunity The Pinewood Head of School is the chief executive officer and academic administrator, reporting to the Board of Trustees, and promoting and executing the Pinewood Mission and the Pinewood Vision. The Head s responsibilities include oversight of all academic, enrollment, personnel, compensation, and advancement matters, as well as management of the budget and school facilities. The Head of School is expected to be the inspirational leader of the school, and to possess both a moral and intellectual vision to lead an aspirational school. The Board seeks an experienced Head of School, aligned with Pinewood s philosophy and principles. The broad focus will be on the school s trajectory toward excellence, with an emphasis on implementing and building consensus around the plans and policies set forth by the Board and the larger Pinewood community. Compensation will be very competitive, commensurate with experience, and will include a 4,900 square foot, on-campus residence built in 1998.
Opportunities and Challenges for the Next Head of School Pinewood faces challenges of growth, competition, and fiscal responsibility issues that require the wisdom, fortitude and persistence of a skilled and steady leader. The next Head of School will need to balance an understanding of the school s history and traditions with its aspirational vision for a future of excellence, while ensuring that Pinewood remains financially stable and self-sustaining. The absence of a strong endowment fund and reliance on tuition-driven revenue are challenges to achieving the Pinewood Vision. The rapid growth of a thriving community provides opportunities for the next Head to take Pinewood to its next level of success. Experiences and Qualifications Proven, highly-successful fund-raising skills are essential to being the next Pinewood Head of School. Eloquent articulation of the Pinewood Mission and the Pinewood Vision to the larger community are equally essential. The next Head of School should also have substantial and successful administrative and leadership experience in a rigorous and competitive academic environment. The Pinewood Head of School should be open and receptive to the culture, style and mindset that permeate the South Carolina low country. Pinewood s accomplishments and progress to date are admirable, but the momentum must not be lost.
Qualifications Desired in the Pinewood Head of School A proven, charismatic, energetic, visionary leader with a passion for excellence who is: Driven, energetic and optimistic; Visible, heavily-involved in the life of the school, accessible to all members of the community, and willing to be the face of the school; Self-confident, courageous and decisive; Committed to educating the whole-child through rigorous academics, deeply meaningful experiential and service learning, and richly diverse and competitive co-curricular participation in the arts, athletics, mathematics and the sciences; A professional educator who deeply understands important trends in education, and who can combine this understanding with an appreciation of Pinewood s values and traditions to set a course for future excellence; A strong organizer and effective delegator with the ability to execute strategies and implement plans; and An excellent communicator, articulate speaker and writer.
Application Procedure Interested candidates should send in, one document, the following: An electronic cover letter indicating reasons for interest in leading the Pinewood community; A Curriculum Vitae; and A Statement of Educational Philosophy Please send in an email to each of the following: Carolyn R. Baechtle, Ed. D David C. McConnell William E. McIntosh c_baechtle@bellsouth.net shafergroupgc@gmail.com bmcintosh@knightwhittington.com While there is no formal application deadline, interested candidates are strongly encouraged to submit application materials at their earliest opportunity. All applications will be held in strict confidence.