Head of School Starting 2015-16 School Year
St. Richard’s Episcopal School
Indianapolis, Indiana
An Dynamic British-Inspired Independent Day School with a Mission to Educate
Children from Age Three Through Grade Eight
--An Urban School With a Global View
Since 1960, St. Richard’s Episcopal School is an educational community where the love of
children and the commitment to their preparation for life have inspired excellence, adaptability,
and innovation. The school’s founder, the Reverend G. Ernest Lynch, the rector of Trinity
Episcopal Church, envisioned an institution based on the parish day school model in Great
Britain. Reverend Lynch believed this school built on a welcoming Christian faith, learning
excellence, and Anglican heritage would provide a compelling academic alternative and anchor
an urban neighborhood. St. Richard’s was founded on the principle of racial integration,
academic rigor and the mission of providing students with “Knowledge and Values for a
Lifetime.”
Over the past half-century, the leaders of St. Richard’s have worked to ensure that its culture,
curriculum, and programming anticipate students’ needs. The School’s foundation remains
strong, including the love of learning inspired by a rigorous academic environment and a caring
atmosphere in which children are valued as individuals. The fantasy evoked by old English
traditions is now complemented by exposure to many cultures. The St. Richard’s faculty and
staff deliver a distinctive mix of learning opportunities – from U.S. constitutional history to
entrepreneurialism to international travel. The school’s student community of more than 350
students includes young people with direct family connections to some 35 countries.
St. Richard’s is in a dynamic period. During the past two years, enrollment has increased by
20%. The related surge in tuition-based revenue has enabled the school to invest in key new
employees, information technology, and more. A comprehensive new early-childhood program
is implemented effectively, that includes “mapping” to ensure that the School’s Classic
Curriculum is hosted.
The school’s information-technology infrastructure has been
comprehensively upgraded. Key parts of the current St. Richard’s facilities have been updated
and, in some cases, reconfigured. And, consistent with its history and mission, St. Richard’s is
now hosting the Indianapolis affiliate of the Horizons student enrichment program, which
provides summer classes and activities for more than 100 low-income children in the school’s
neighborhood.
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Meanwhile, the school’s endowment overseen by the St. Richard’s Foundation Board has tripled
in assets during the last three years – adding resources to an already-substantial financial-aid
program. And, very importantly, St. Richard’s is in the process of creating a green, open campus
that will make the school more visible, attractive, and accessible. This environment is expected
to help future leaders achieve consistently robust enrollment and revenues. The school is in the
process of planning a capital campaign to finance for these investments in the school’s future and
has enlisted fund-raising consultants to work with the Board and leadership team to determine
how best to proceed.
Even in the midst of change, its Five Pillars of Success guides the St. Richard’s community:
Pillar #1 – Faith: St. Richard’s embraces the Episcopal Church’s tradition of intellectual
exploration and discovery of faith that nurtures students’ development of moral character and
their capacity to respect themselves and others. The school teaches faith literacy and encourages
students, regardless of their background, to learn about the world’s religions.
Pillar #2 – Classic Curriculum: The St. Richard’s curriculum encompasses timeless classics
and highly regarded contemporary works in the humanities, languages, social sciences, and arts
as well as excellence in mathematics and science. With outstanding teaching enhanced by
educational research and information technology, this curriculum helps students develop corelearning skills, assemble basic knowledge, and prepare for a lifetime love of learning.
Pillar #3 – Civic Responsibility: The St. Richard’s curriculum emphasizes government, the
U.S. constitution, current events, and citizenship. The school’s culture expands students’
perception of community beyond their home, neighborhood, and school and promotes
involvement, volunteerism, and charitable giving.
Pillar #4 – Global Readiness: St. Richard’s people represent a community of cultures,
religions, and ethnicities from societies worldwide. The school helps students develop a broad
worldview through exposure to their school community as well as language training and travel
programs.
Pillar #5 – Leadership: St. Richard’s helps students build leadership capabilities, including
intellectual preparation, independence, responsibility, and self-confidence as public speakers.
The school encourages students to apply their academic learning to real-world opportunities and
challenges.
The capacity of St. Richard’s to bring the Five Pillars to life is confirmed by admissions officers,
teachers, and administrators at high schools and college preparatory schools in central Indiana
and beyond. Indeed, outstanding secondary schools covet St. Richard’s students. It is not
uncommon for all graduating eighth grade students to be admitted to their secondary school of
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choice. A significant numbers of students are awarded merit scholarships for the next step in the
educational journey and then attend leading colleges and universities.
Parents with high academic expectations for their children choose St. Richard’s from a growing
number of school options. The school community includes many dual-career families with
parents involved in academia, research, public service, and the arts as well as in the professions
and business.
St. Richard’s is affiliated with the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the
Independent School Association of the Central States (ISACS), and the National Association of
Episcopal Schools (NAES). It also maintains a close, cooperative relationship with its founding
institution, Trinity Episcopal Church. The school and church share important facilities and the
time of certain employees. St. Richard’s and Trinity have sustained ongoing communications
and collaboration that are considered exemplary in the Episcopal community.
St. Richard’s Episcopal School: Current and Future Focus
Academic Excellence – St. Richard’s inspires its students to make the most of their talents and
prepares them for future academic challenges. The school’s humanities, social sciences, and arts
programs are second to none in its region. Strong math and science offerings are on the rise.
The school is distinguished by rich foreign language offerings. To reinforce those assets, St.
Richard’s is committed to reaching higher. The school seeks academic leadership that can
orchestrate ongoing curriculum design and implementation; the recruitment, development, and
encouragement of a superb faculty; the use of educational and brain research to help students
learn; and the thoughtful application of information technology to teaching. St. Richard’s is
committed absolutely to academic excellence.
Development – For most of its history, St. Richard’s was a parish school overseen by its
founding institution, Trinity Episcopal Church. St. Richard’s became an independent school
only a little more than a decade ago. As a result, the school’s fund-raising culture, capabilities,
and performance have tended to lag its potential. A strong team of two professionals has been
assembled to help St. Richard’s take advantage of substantial reservoirs of goodwill among
parents, alumni, past parents, and other constituencies. The upcoming campus-enhancement
effort noted above is a compelling opportunity to speed the establishment of strong development
capabilities and a culture of giving at St. Richard’s.
Enrollment – With a strong admissions team and vigorous cultivation of word-of-mouth
promotion, St. Richard’s has experienced sharp increases in its enrollment. Although the Board
of Trustees and administration have not firmly defined full capacity at the school, this level of
enrollment is clearly within reach – particularly with the visibility and attractiveness of the
impending campus-enhancement effort.
St. Richard’s is pursuing leadership capable of
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sustaining consistently robust enrollment of highly qualified students and supporting the
diversity commitment that is one of the school’s hallmarks. St. Richard’s is committed to
financial independence and sustainability through strong enrollment and tuition revenue.
Diversity: Diversity has an unusually prominent role in the ethos, history, and experience of St.
Richard’s and is a positive source of learning, respectfulness, and growth. The school maintains
a robust, thoughtful pursuit of diversity and responsibility that connects people in the school
community, helps students thrive at St. Richard’s and beyond, enhances the school’s recruitment
of faculty and staff, and much more.
Information Technology: St. Richard’s is using contemporary IT to enhance students’ learning
with its Classic Curriculum. The school provides faculty with relevant training and technology
for integration into classrooms and curriculum. Moreover, the St. Richard’s administration and
faculty use increasingly sophisticated IT infrastructure to improve efficiency and effectiveness
throughout the school’s operations and systematically improve the day-to-day experiences of
parents, students, employees, prospective parents, alumni, and others.
To pursue these and other priorities, St. Richard’s is forming a strong, lean team of direct reports.
These professionals continue to strengthen all facets of the school’s operations.
Head of School: Responsibilities
Address Key Objectives
 Achieve ongoing progress with St. Richard’s Vision and the fulfillment of the Five Pillars
for Success in student’s experiences and the interactions among faculty, staff, parents,
and others.
 Sustain consistently strong enrollments by increasing admissions and improving
retention.
 Expand fund-raising by working with the St. Richard’s development team, the Board of
Trustees, and the Foundation Board to consistently increase annual giving, planned
giving, and endowment. Play a lead role in the success of the school’s upcoming capital
campaign.
 Foster the development and implementation of refinements in the school’s Classic
Curriculum that incorporate the latest research and new information technology.
 Elevate the involvement of alumni and past parents in the life of the school by increasing
communications, creating events, and nurturing relationships.
 Engage St. Richard’s in its community to enhance its understood value as an anchor in its
neighborhood.
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Lead School Operations
 Faculty – Recruit, evaluate, develop, and retain outstanding teachers who exemplify the
Five Pillars. Implement a meaningful staff management and measurement program.
Ensure continuing professional development opportunities for faculty to foster their
ongoing learning.
 Academic Excellence – Engage faculty and staff in ongoing efforts to enhance
academics, arts, athletic, and extracurricular programs supporting the Five Pillars.
 Marketing and Branding – Lead systematic efforts to tell the St. Richard’s story to key
constituencies – especially prospective families and students – to strengthen the school’s
position in the local education market. Take full advantage of the enhanced campus and
facilities to expand public awareness of St. Richard’s and its academic excellence.
 Constituent Orientation – Establish an atmosphere of attunement to the needs and
priorities of parents for their children’s education and development.
 Financial Discipline –Lead financial-planning and budgetary decision-making processes
that enable the school to increase and maximized the use of its resources.
 Process Improvement – Emphasize the importance and value of personal interactions,
and improve efficiency and effectiveness.
 Educational Policy and Competition – Monitor trends in the regional educational
environment and lead discussion, analysis, and – where needed – action on behalf of the
school’s interests.
 Trinity Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese – Sustain active, open, and
consistent communications with the school’s founding institution as well as its
denominational base.
Strengthen School Culture
 Diversity – Promote diversity among students, faculty, and staff that extends the school’s
tradition of and commitment to building a respectful and inclusive community.
 Traditions – Understand, celebrate, and nurture the distinctive heritage of St. Richard’s,
while seeking new cultural experiences for students that support the Five Pillars.
 Workplace – Create a work environment that inspires, enables, recognizes, and
challenges the faculty and staff to maximize the use of their talents on behalf of the
students they serve.
 Communications – Be the face of St. Richard’s with key external constituencies and
promote thoughtful, responsive communications with faculty and staff.
 Relationships – Build personal relationships with St. Richard’s people, past, present and
future, as well as leaders in the neighborhood and community. Encourage teachers to get
to know students and their families.
 Problem-Solving – Anticipate and seek issues and then lead efforts to resolve them with
a balance of compassion, deliberation, and decisiveness.
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Head of School: Personal Profile
Essential Experience and Capabilities
 Demonstrated personal commitment to students from age three through eighth grade and
to their education, development, and fulfillment.
 Success in positions of leadership and management in education (or, possibly, in
business, government, nonprofits, or the professions).
 A track record of sound, forward-looking financial management.
 Personal knowledge of and participation in successful fund-raising initiatives.
 Experience in curriculum development and implementation.
 Capacity to nurture institutional diversity.
 Leadership of staff and young people involved in youth-management programs.
 Ability to select, evaluate, and develop employees and inspire their best work.
 Grounding in – or aptitude to grasp quickly – educational theories, practices, and trends.
 Understanding of (or high potential for quickly learning) expectations, challenges, and
day-to-day realities experienced by teachers in independent day schools.
 A bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in relevant areas of study are mandatory.
Preferred Experience or Credentials
 Relevant service as a head of school or senior administrator.
 Service as a teacher or in other pedagogical roles.
 Distinctive, coherent personal philosophy of education and learning.
 Responsibilities for facilities management and capital projects.
Skills and Personal Characteristics
 Exceptional ability to relate to people in all independent school constituencies.
 Superior personal communications capabilities, including engaging, patience, listening,
interpreting, thinking, and responding -- both spoken and written.
 Broad interests, strong intellectual capacity, and practical predisposition required to
improve policies, planning, and implementation.
 A zest for community involvement.
Personal Traits
 Integrity that balances ethical rigor with compassion.
 Capacity to reach out to, listen to, learn from, and apply feedback and ideas from others.
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A mature personal presence that is composed, responsive, and courageous.
A personality with a mix of openness and humility as well as competence and
confidence.
Respectful, expeditious decision-making.
Open, affirming Christian faith and/or commitment to the study of faith literacy.
The calendar of the search process calls for the identification and appointment of the Head of
School to be completed by December 15, 2014, with a starting date of July 1, 2015. The school
is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes interest in the position from candidates of
diverse backgrounds. The compensation package for the position of Head of School is
competitive with independent schools of similar size and grade levels in the Midwest Region.
By October 1, 2014, interested candidates should send a cover letter, C.V./resume, statement of
commitment to education, and a list of three to five references preferably in Adobe Acrobat PDF
or Microsoft Word file form to:
Head of School Search Committee
headsearch@strichardsschool.org
St. Richard’s Episcopal School
33 East 33rd Street
Indianapolis, IN 46205
For further information or questions about this search contact:
Gary R. Gruber, Ph.D.
grg@garygruber.com
505-795-4329
http://www.garygruber.com
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