Being Head of School for a Day: “The campus never rests”

For years, participants in the Parents’ Association’s annual Online Auction have had the opportunity to bid on a one-of-a-kind experience for their Raven: serving as Head of School for a Day. This year, junior Ellene Warner ’26 was the recipient of that opportunity. She spent much of Tuesday, Nov. 12, working alongside Head of School Derrick Willard. What follows is her reflection on that day.

On Nov. 12, I had the privilege of being Head of School for a Day. That Tuesday largely comprised meetings: when I first received my schedule from Mrs. Kay, Executive Operations Manager for Head of School, she informed me that she had attempted to make my day look as much like Mr. Willard’s routine as possible. I am not a Lower Schooler, as many Heads of School for a Day have traditionally been, and my day would reflect that. 

Rather than the ceremony characteristic of past recipients, I was instead offered perspective. 

I have been a Ravenscroft student since first grade with Mrs. Vickie Davis. Now, one year before I leave for college, we have welcomed a new head of school. Last fall, the news of Mrs. Doreen Kelly’s impending departure struck me — I baked cookies with her at age eight and drove by her on-campus house every day for 10 years. At some point I got the idea that I knew every corner of Ravenscroft, from the shelves of Winston Library to the most remote study room in the Olander Center. When I shook hands with Mr. Willard, our new Head of School, I knew that I was wrong.

Clockwise from top: As Head of School for a Day, Ellene Warner ’26, at right, meets with Head of School Derrick Willard and Director of Enrollment Management Margaret Mills ’76 in Willard’s office; with Assistant Head of School for Institutional Advancement Ben Rein; and with Chief Marketing and Communications Officer Jennifer Davis.

Through my Head of School day, I reunited with familiar faces including Mrs. Baccus, Mr. Guzmán and Dr. McChesney, all of whom have supported me through the soaring highs and pandemics of my school career, and then I met key members of the Ravenscroft Leadership Team whom I had only known as names in emails. When I spoke to Dr. Varnell (Associate Head of School for Student Affairs), Mrs. Mills (Director of Enrollment Management), Mr. Hodges (Chief Financial and Operations Officer), Mrs. Davis (Chief Marketing and Communications Officer) and Mr. Rein (Assistant Head of School for Institutional Advancement), I was moved. For each of my 11 years, behind the scenes have worked such incredibly vibrant, dynamic and dedicated administrators; when I sat in on the division heads’ meeting, a conversation like a firecracker flew from policy to homework to karaoke picks. These were people who both managed the incredible machine of a PreK-12 school and laughed together while waiting on a straggler. It was like a secret had been revealed to me. I sat like a second-grader seeing the Upper School for the first time. 

In the center of the Ravenscroft citizen leader framework is the Character Tree. That motif is near-definitive of Ravenscroft. Spangled across the face of the school website are about a thousand trees steeped in every hue of the year, and I have a desk full of yearbooks which are green–green–green–cyan–green, all of them with some iteration of a tree engraved, embossed, inlaid upon them. I sat for Middle School lunch with the whistling of oak leaves overhead, flitting down on the picnic tables like shamrock minnows. There are more green hoodies in my closet than I can count. 

The wonderful thing about Ravenscroft is that it is, in fact, like a tree. The campus never rests — it is in a constant cycle of change, graduation and admission, success and education, pushing skyward and efflorescing into countless leaves. I want to teach when I grow up, and seeing firsthand the experience of my educators was inspiring. These are the people who have stood behind me until now and who cheer me on as I fall face-forward into the future. Change is here, and it is wonderful. I was Head of School for a day only, but I am so excited and honored to see Mr. Willard join our Ravenscroft community.