Carol Swainson joined the Head-Royce School community as our new Head of Middle
School in 2006. She came to us from the Sidwell Friends School, a K-12 school in
Washington DC, where she served in a variety of positions during her 12 year tenure. She
taught French, Spanish and American History and served as an advisor.
While at Sidwell, she also broadened her experience working on the management of the
school through committees on languages, mentoring, admissions and diversity. She
developed the Sidwell Friends School Puerto Rico Community Service Project, and
joined the senior management team by becoming the School’s first All-School Diversity
Coordinator. Outside of the Friends School, she worked as program director for Global
Works, organizing service and language immersion trips to France and Costa Rica.
Very active in the arts, Carol has been an oboist for more than 20 years and has
composed music for multi-media installations, performance art and dramatic productions.
Fluent in Spanish and French, she also has a working knowledge of Italian and Arabic.
Before joining Sidwell Friends School, Carol worked in several bilingual schools in Los
Angeles with the Teach for America Program. While in the public sector, she held a
position as 3/4 grade teacher of a self-contained classroom that included physical
education and a math and science teacher to grades 6-8. She also taught Spanish at the
Yeshiva of Greater Washington high school.
Raised in Virginia, she received a B.A. in Spanish and French languages from the
University of Virginia. She also holds an M.Ed. in Social Foundations in Education from
UVA. A non-stop learner, she graduated from the Friends Council’s Institute on
Engaging Leadership in Friends Schools in 2005. As a committed educator, she has been
a frequent speaker at the NAIS Annual Conference and the People of Color Conference
and has consulted with schools across the country from the Carolina Friends School in
North Carolina to the Chicago Lab School. Upon arriving to the Bay Area, she delivered
a presentation titled Socio-economic Class in Independent Schools to educators and
parents at the POCIS Conference for Parents. She also became a member of the board of
trustees for Children’s Day School in San Francisco.
AFFILIATIONS
-AIMSFall 2003
AIMS Evaluation and Accreditation Team for the Park School, Baltimore
MD, Peter Branch, Chair
 Chaired the Foreign Language Committee
 Served on the following committees: School and Community, Personnel,
and Institutional Advancement
-NAIS2003-Present Call to Action, Sponsored by NAIS’ office of Equity and Justice Initiatives
 Contribute ideas and resources to a listserv of diversity advocates
-Friends Council on Education2003-2004
Multicultural Peer Network, Facilitator
- PRESENTATIONS & WORKSHOPS -
April 2007
NYSAIS Diversity Conference, Lycée Français, New York, NY
 Socio-economic Class in Independent Schools: an Educational Approach
November 2006 POCIS Conference for Parents, the Bay School, San Francisco, CA
 Socio-economic Class in Independent Schools
October 2005
AIMS Fall Conference, Baltimore, MD
 Sustaining Equity: Two Institutional Models from the 2004/2005 NAIS
Leading Edge Award Recipients for Equity and Justice
December 2004 NAIS People of Color Conference, Miami, FL
 The Qualifications of Diversity Coordinators: How do you identify, nurture
and support them?
February 2003 NAIS Annual Conference, New York, NY
 How to Meet Diversity Objectives Through International Service-Learning
December 2001 NAIS People of Color Conference, Providence, RI
 How to Meet Diversity Objectives Through International Service-Learning
October 1999
AIMS Fall Conference, Baltimore, MD
 How to Create and Implement a Language Immersion and Community
Service Trip
ARTISTIC ENDEAVORS
Music: Oboist for over 20 years, performing with The Sidwell Friends Chamber
Orchestra (1995- 2006); Washington Chamber Orchestra (2000); University of
Virginia Chamber Groups (1987-1989, 1990-1991); Camerata Rotunda (1990-1991);
and The Charlottesville & University Symphony (1990-1991).
Multimedia Installation: Composed and performed music for Renée Marcus Butler’s
Who’s Afraid of RED, YELLOW, and BLUE? George Mason University, April 2000.
Video: Created a video of student service activity for the Puerto Rico Community
Service Project, Washington, D.C., 1997.
Created a student outreach video for the NAMES Project of Washington, D.C., 1995.
Performance Art: Performed musical accompaniment for Sheila Crider’s staged
reading and Film presentation at the Washington Project for the Arts. Composed
original score for live performance, December 18, 1992.
Drama: Arranged, composed, and performed soundtrack for Spanish Department’s
production of “El Ámbar.” Choreographed and performed Middle-Eastern dance for
“El Ámbar.” University of Virginia, Spring Semester, 1991