Dear Parents and Faculty,

It is with great pleasure that we announce Richard H. Eyster as the unanimously appointed next Head of School, effective July 1, 2008.  This appointment, voted by the Board of Trustees, came also as a unanimous recommendation from the 10-member search committee.

As you know, we conducted a national four-month long search that yielded a strong candidate pool with Rich emerging as a leader at the start.  He stood out based on his demonstrated commitment to educational excellence, his respect for Montessori philosophies and his strong leadership experience with faculty, administrators, families and students.  Rich's ability to effectively build trust and enhance communication between all constituents was evident in one of the Summit community's feedback comments stating:

"I like how this candidate interacted with the children - this candidate is aware that we are a cohesive community - would step in confidently and respectfully."

One of the most compelling aspects of Rich's candidacy was his extraordinary philosophical alignment with Summit's mission to cultivate children's strengths and enable them to reach their unique potential.  In his description of his most important concerns, he states:

"The first is to foster an environment of educational excellence  - The goal must not only be for them to learn, but to love the active process of learning - The second is to cultivate an environment in which each child is seen as they wish to be seen - as a unique individual, with talent and promise and goodness of heart - Building on this sense of the whole, expanding child is a deep desire to stimulate richness of program - not only in academics, but in activities, athletics and the arts-so each child can begin to discover a compelling personal talent." 

Colleagues and friends alike repeatedly use words and phrases such as 'makes people feel passionately about the school, intelligent, great instincts, talented painter and writer.'  Rich is decisive and delivers his decisions with care and compassion.  He is recognized as an innovative and effective ambassador.  He is both energetic and energizing, believing in engaging the community at all levels with an open door, a trusted ear and a direct approach that is always mission centered.   We are delighted to have found such an outstanding match for our school!

Rich comes to us from The Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn, New York, where he has been the Director of the Middle School since 1989.  He began at Packer four years earlier as the Director of Admissions for the Middle and Upper Schools, after receiving his Masters in Educational Administration from Teachers College at Columbia University.  Rich also holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan, Honors College, in English and Psychology.

During his tenure at Packer, Rich has been involved with all aspects of the school including classroom teaching, teacher and curriculum development, strategic and master planning.  He has also gained extensive experience with educational administration and school accreditation, and has worked with more than a thousand young teachers in programs on classroom management. On topics ranging from looking beyond the classroom to time management, he has advised aspiring school leaders.  Rich is entrepreneurial, involved with educational consulting work and additionally chose to complete his first cycle of Montessori Leadership Training two summers ago.

We want to thank our parents, faculty, staff, and trustees who have committed countless hours to the search process.  Your participation, feedback and support have been invaluable to us and we are very grateful.  We would like to add a special thank you to Claudia Davidoff, Interim Head of School, for her gracious welcome to all three finalists in the process.  And, or course, our thanks to the Search Committee for their incredible devotion to our school, our mission and our community.

As soon as we can arrange another campus visit for Rich we will advise you and look forward to having you join us as we welcome him into our community.  We are privileged to have Rich leading Summit into our second decade and honored by his enthusiasm to do so. 

Cordially,