Announcement of Search for New Head of School

The Lerner Jewish Community Day School is looking for a new Head of School to begin in the 2010-11 academic year. The Lerner School, with 140 students from pre-school through fifth grade, is part of a vibrant and growing Jewish community that includes an anticipated Jewish Community Center on the same campus as the school. The school is located in beautiful Durham, North Carolina, between Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We seek a Head of School with a strong background in education and a strong commitment to Jewish values. In addition, we seek a charismatic and visionary leader who can build relationships with its stakeholders. For more information about the job, click here. Qualified applicants should submit a cover letter, resume, and contact information to Jeff Spinner-Halev at lernerjob@lernerschool.org.

Search Update - Mary Crane hired as Head of School.

September 27, 2010

Dear Friends:

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Sandra E. Lerner Jewish Community Day School, it is my honor and privilege to announce the hiring of Mary Crane as Head of School.

Mary has been at Lerner since 2000. Since March 2010, she has served as Lerner’s interim Head of School, and before that as Principal, Director of General Studies, and as a First Grade teacher. This is the third time Mary has stepped into a leadership role in a time of transition for Lerner, and each time she has done so with confidence and grace. Mary’s education, experience, and intimate knowledge of the school and our community have been and will continue to be an invaluable asset to our school.

I want to thank the members of the Search Committee for their time and effort. Jeff Spinner Halev chaired the committee, and its members were Michele Rivkin-Fish, Richard Goldberg, Barbara Deena, Jennifer Solomon, Betsy Polk, and myself.

The Committee’s goal was to hire a Head of School who would work to fulfill our mission, build upon our strengths, and guide us through our next stage of growth while maintaining Lerner’s academic excellence. The candidate who consistently rose to the top in the Committee’s deliberations was Mary. Her passion and love for the Lerner School coupled with her educational background, professional expertise, administrative capabilities, and incredible rapport with the faculty, staff, parents, and students, makes Mary the ideal candidate for our Head of School.

To complement Mary’s skills and to continue to strengthen the integration of Jewish learning and culture throughout its curriculum and community, a new executive administrative position has been created at Lerner. This month, we will begin a national search for a Director of Jewish Life. This new administrative model replaces our previous structure of a Head of School and Principal. The Board is confident that this new structure will further enrich our students’ outstanding educational experience while strengthening our position as a leading Jewish Day School in our region.

Please join with the Board in welcoming Mary into her new position as Head of School.

If you have any questions, please contact Tal Lewin-Wittle at tal@wittle.net or 919-475-3337, Jeff Spinner-Halev at jhalev@gmail.com or 919-442-8528, or me at 919-618-9008 or at rbearman@mebtel.net.

Sincerely,

Rachel Sobel Bearman
President of the Board of Directors

Search Update - Betsy Polk Joseph added to Search Committee. Head of School Search Resumes.

September 27, 2010

Dear Lerner Families, Staff and Friends:

I am writing with a quick update about our Head of School search process. I am delighted to report that Betsy Polk Joseph has agreed to serve on the committee. Betsy is a former Lerner School parent, and co-leader of Mulberry Tree Consulting. She serves on the boards of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation and the Dispute Settlement Center where she is a volunteer mediator.

We have re-posted the ad for the Head of School position and now have a good sized pool of candidates. The search committee has started to review the applicants, and will continue to work in earnest after the holidays. We will of course keep you informed as the process moves forward.

Sincerely,

Jeff Spinner-Halev
Chair, Head Search Committee

Search Update - Search Postponed until Fall 2010.
Mary Crane appointed Interim Director

May 26, 2010

Dear Lerner Families, Staff and Friends:

The Head of School Search Committee recommended to the Board of Directors that we postpone our search until the Fall.  The Board agreed, and we are delighted that Mary Crane has accepted the position of Interim Head of School for the 2010-2011 academic year. The Board has tremendous confidence in Mary, and we are fortunate that she is such a talented educator and administrator, and is willing to step into this role.

The two candidates that visited our school had considerable strengths, but the committee decided that Lerner would be best served by continuing the search in the Fall to get a complete view of our options. Both candidates did agree to keep their name in the applicant pool. 

The Search Committee will get back to work in August, and I will write another update in late summer or early fall.

Sincerely,

Jeff Spinner-Halev
Chair, Head Search Committee

Search Update - Two Candidates Selected for Visit

April 28, 2010

Dear Lerner Families, Staff and Friends:

I write to give you an update on the Head of School search. We have received thirty-two applications to date.  Only four candidates had the appropriate qualifications for our Head of School position.  Of the four, the committee decided that two candidates looked especially promising.

We had phone interviews with each candidate and contacted references with follow-up questions.  A total of eight references were contacted for each candidate. The search committee was impressed by both candidates and decided to bring each in for a visit.  The first candidate will arrive on Sunday May 2nd, and leave on Tuesday; the second candidate will come in a week later, also from Sunday to Tuesday.

Each candidate will spend time at Lerner - visiting classrooms, observing and perhaps interacting with some of the children, meeting with teachers, staff and Board members and conducting extensive interviews with the search committee. The candidates will also have the opportunity to tour the community and meet with local Rabbis and community leaders.

If you have any questions regarding the search process, please contact me at  Jhalev@gmail.com or 357-9181.

Sincerely,

Jeff Spinner-Halev
Chair, Head Search Committee

Head of School Search Committee Selected

April 26, 2010

Dear Lerner School Families, Staff and Friends:

I am writing to inform you of the status and process  in our search for the new Head of School at Lerner.  In addition to setting the school’s vision, and maintaining financial stewardship, the hiring and evaluation of the Head of School is a primary task of the Lerner School Board.  As a board we take this responsibility very seriously and have a vetted process in place to search, evaluate, and hire our next head of school.  I will keep the community informed as we reach major milestones in the process.

The Head of School Search Process
1) Search Committee is formed
The Board of Trustees has asked me to chair the search committee for the new Head of School. I have been on the Lerner Board for three years, and on the executive committee for two years, and also participated in our previous Head of School search.  As the Chair, my first task is to form a search committee, which I have done in consultation with Julie Harris, our Board President, and the committee on Trustees, which helps choose committee members.

The search committee members are Rachel Bearman, Richard Goldberg, Barbara Deena, Michele Rivkin-Fish, and Jenny Solomon.  The committee was picked to represent the diverse nature of our community, and to include a teacher's perspective. We have five parents on the committee, two are Board members and three are not. A community member agreed to be on the committee, but just recently stepped down,  as she decided she did not have the time to take on this responsibility. Whether we replace her depends on how long the search process takes.

2) Establish criteria
We are looking for a strong leader, a community builder with excellent interpersonal skills.  We seek an experienced educator who can oversee and support the Directors of General Studies, Judaic Studies and Preschool as they develop and administer the curriculum.  We would like a leader who can continue to work on the integration of the Judaic and General Studies curriculum. A full list of the qualities we seek can be found on a link on the Head Search page on the Lerner School website.

3) Launch search and prescreen candidates
We have recently posted the ad and immediately received about thirty applicants.  The committee reviews the applicants, decides which applicants seem the most promising, and then verifies references.  Promising candidates that pass the first screen are interviewed via the phone.

4) School visit and face-to-face interviews
The most promising candidates are then brought to the school for a visit. During the visit each candidate under goes extensive interviews with the Search Committee, Board of Directors, teachers and staff, and meets with community leaders.

5) Consensus and offer
Input from all sources is weighed and discussed. The Board then votes and an offer is presented. The Board makes the final decision on hiring the Head of School.

Timing
I expect the committee to move fairly quickly. Based on the early interest we have received, there is a possibility we may have a candidate visit the school in May. 

Our goal is to bring an excellent Head of School to Lerner, someone who embraces our mission and can take the school to its next level of excellence.  In normal economic times this would be an unconventional time to look for a Head of School. However, we think that it is worth our while to conduct a search now due to the state of the economy and the financial challenges facing many Day Schools.  This means that excellent candidates are looking for jobs now.  Still, if we cannot find a candidate shortly, we will resume our search in the Fall.  If that happens, Mary Crane will act as Interim Head of School,  and the Board will develop a plan with Mary so the jobs of principal and Head of School are both fulfilled. The Board has full confidence in Mary’s abilities, as she is a talented educator and administrator.  We will provide the Lerner community with more information about the Interim plan if that is the route we take.

I will update the Head Search page periodically, to let you know how the search is moving along, and to let you know if we are bringing any candidates in for a visit.  In the meantime, you can email me at Jhalev@gmail.com or call me at 357-9181 if you have questions about the search process.

Sincerely,

Jeff Spinner Halev