again...this ain't kansas

The Middle school principal of 27 years is retiring. Here is the announcement of our first candidate. I can not wait to see who he is. Kind of makes you proud to be hired here if this is the level of administrator they feel must be a leader.

And pictures are coming soon...after all it is ghost month!

Dear Colleagues,

As Dr. Hennessy reported in her day one address to faculty, the Middle School Principal Search is well underway. She has been working closely with Carney Sandoe & Associates to narrow the pool of applicants. We are now at the point where the Advisory Working Group can step in to conduct reference checks and plan itineraries for the finalists (and their family members) invited to visit the school.

All MS faculty will have the opportunity to meet finalists when they visit TAS, as well as provide feedback. Candidates will meet with various small groups of Middle School students, faculty and parents during their stay, and all MS teachers will be invited to attend a presentation and Q&A session with the candidate one afternoon after school. (This process will be familiar to you if you recall last year’s superintendent visits.) Your feedback will be collated by the Advisory Working Group and presented to Dr. Hennessy, who will make the final decision.

We are pleased to announce that Mark Tashjian, a candidate for Middle School Principal at TAS, will be visiting our campus in mid October. (Firm dates are not yet available.)

Mr. Tashjian has served as Head of Middle School at Collegiate School (a K-12 boys’ school in New York City) since 2002. Prior to this appointment, he served as Head of School for Harlem’s Children’s Storefront School. After graduating from Yale in 1984 with a degree in political science and international relations, and later earning an MBA from the Wharton School, Mr. Tashjian’s first career in the corporate world included an executive position in a billion dollar chemical company. He gave this up to teach 5th and 6th grade math and science, earning an MEd in Educational Leadership from Columbia’s Teachers College as part of the Klingenstein Center.

Mr. Tashjian was born and raised in Philadelphia and has a young family. He has studied intensive Spanish in Guatemala, Costa Rica and Ecuador while living with local families; he has mountaineered in Nepal, Kenya, Ecuador, France, and the United States; and he has bicycle toured throughout Europe, Japan, and Canada.

The Advisory Working Group members are excited to engage with candidates of this calibre, facilitate their visits, and assist Dr. Hennessy in the processing of your feedback. We look forward to the MS faculty joining us in the task of assessing how well the finalists “fit” our Middle School and, of course, in promoting our school so that Dr. Hennessy may appoint the best of the best to lead our Middle School into the future.

Thank you, in advance, for your support during this process