Head of School Search

On March 12, Steve de Beer announced his plan to retire as Head of Westside School at the end of the 2024-2025 school year.

During the past six years, Steve has brought a culture of community and collaboration, growing enrollment to more than 400 students and navigating the school through a pandemic to emerge stronger than ever. By the end of his tenure, Steve will have completed initiatives to improve teacher compensation, to bring a much-needed focus on DEIB, and to expand program offerings and learning support. He led the launch of a new preschool with a beautiful facility, orchestrated a rigorous once-in-a-decade re-accreditation process, and revitalized Westside community engagement. We will all miss his energy, his endless optimism, and his high-fives at the front door!

Head of School Search Process

The Search Committee, partnering with our search consultants Educators Collaborative, will work diligently to identify a new Head of School to start on July 1, 2025.

This search will rely on assistance and input from the Westside School community, starting with gathering feedback through a community survey and in-person visit with Educators Collaborative on April 15 & 16.
From this input, EC will develop a leadership profile and position statement, which will be advertised extensively, leveraging EC's sizeable database and professional networks.
Over the summer, the Search Committee will review detailed candidate dossiers and interview semifinalists to select the best matches for Westside.
In late September and early October, there will be opportunities for our community to meet the finalists and provide feedback. An Advisory Committee composed of a variety of community members will be established to further support the vetting of finalist candidates.
The Search Committee will conclude their work when they recommend a candidate to the Board for approval sometime in the fall.
We expect to introduce the Head-Elect to the community by Thanksgiving break.

HEAD OF SCHOOL Job Description Westside School Overview for Candidates

About the Consultants

After reviewing proposals and interviewing several search firms, the Board retained Educators Collaborative (EC) to support us in conducting this search. EC has conducted over 1,000 successful head of school searches since 1971, many of those in the Pacific Northwest. Joan Beauregard and Eric Temple, our EC partners, have served as heads of schools throughout the Seattle area and California, have strong connections with leaders throughout the independent school community, and are well-respected by educators across the country.

FAQ

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE SEARCH COMMITTEE?

The role of the Search Committee is to oversee all aspects of the search process. The Committee does this by coordinating and communicating with our search consultant partners to ensure they get all of the information they need to build the candidate pipeline and that the process is tailored to Westside School's needs. The Search Committee is also ultimately responsible for building the list of finalist candidates and making a hiring recommendation to the Board.

WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE ADVISORY COMMITTEE?

The Advisory Committee is a crucial complement to the Search Committee, which is made up exclusively of Trustees. The Advisory Committee will include people from a broader portion of the community, including faculty, staff, and parents. The committee will have a dedicated meeting during each finalist visit to interview finalist candidates and provide their individual feedback. The Advisory Committee members will be selected as we get closer to the finalist stage of the search. We will keep you informed.

WHAT ARE THE CRITERIA FOR SELECTING THE NEXT HEAD OF SCHOOL?

The Search Committee will establish the criteria for selecting the next Head of School based on input from the community received through surveys and conversations held during the consultants’ site visit. The consultants will produce a document titled Information for Candidates and Opportunity Statement, IFC, which will reflect the approved criteria. Once created, the IFC will be shared broadly, specifically with the Westside Community on this search page.

HOW CAN WESTSIDE COMMUNITY MEMBERS OFFER FEEDBACK?

This process will only be successful if the Search Committee gets the best and most well-informed feedback from the community. The easiest and best way for community members to offer this feedback is through the community survey hosted by our search consultants. Additionally, the consultants (Joan and Eric of Educators Collaborative) will be at Westside April 15-16 to have conversations with the various constituencies and observe the operations of the school. This would be a great opportunity to attend listening sessions and to offer opinions that you think are particularly important. There will also be listening sessions and associated surveys during the finalist visits in the fall.