Ravenscroft board chair Amy Batten has announced that Head of School Doreen Kelly will conclude her more than 20-year tenure at the close of the 2023-24 school year.

In a communication shared with faculty and staff, current families, alumni and their families, trustees and other supporters on May 1, Batten commended Kelly for her unwavering commitment to the school’s mission, making note of her many accomplishments throughout the years, including “multiple fundraising campaigns that led to new and improved facilities across all areas of the school and new endowments to support all aspects of the educational journey.” 

She continued:

… We would also like to acknowledge Doreen’s exceptional leadership through the pandemic. During a time of extreme uncertainty and duress, Doreen remained thoughtfully focused on the needs of everyone in our community and exemplified strength, bravery and perseverance while carefully considering and pursuing options for the continuity of our children’s education.

One of the most significant initiatives led by Doreen has been the more than 10-year partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership that resulted in our unique and distinctive program, Lead From Here. By combining academics, arts and athletic education with citizen-leadership learning, Ravenscroft has a framework that is a lasting testimony to “connecting the head and heart.”

Batten also shared with the community the school’s next steps in identifying and hiring a new Head of School. The Board of Trustees has named a search committee, which will be co-chaired by Batten and Secretary of the Board of Trustees Laura Helton Kalorin ’92, and selected a nationally recognized recruiting firm, RG175, to undertake this important work. The process will involve a community-wide survey and in-person meetings with a variety of stakeholders to shape and inform the search.

In a separate letter to the community, Kelly shared her gratitude and sense of accomplishment for the partnership she has enjoyed with faculty and staff, trustees, parents, students and alumni. She wrote, speaking for herself and her husband, Chris:

In so many ways, Ravenscroft has never been better! I am so proud of our students, faculty, and staff, and I have full confidence that the momentum the school currently enjoys — a healthy enrollment, talented faculty and staff, a laudable college matriculation list, alumni making a mark on the world with great success, a gorgeous physical plant and a sound financial position — will continue into the future. Ravenscroft has a respected national reputation, and our new Board-approved strategic plan, Framing Our Future, sets the course for the next five years and beyond.

… Our greatest satisfaction stems from the relationships we have cultivated with members of this incredible community — especially the students but also our alumni, past and current parents, and of course Ravenscroft’s past and present trustees. I am extremely proud of the faculty and staff we have attracted to Ravenscroft over the years and in whose wonderful hands we leave the school.

More information about the search committee and next steps in the process is available on the Head of School Search webpage on Ravenscroft.org.