I am grateful for the opportunity to introduce myself to current Middleburg Academy families -- the very core of the school community. 

Recently, my family and I (my wife, Edwina, and our eleven-year old son Colley) spent several days in Middleburg, getting to know the school and the area a bit better, and visiting potential schools for our son. I met with the faculty, Dr. Sykes, and other administrators as well as with Board Chairman Mike Hoover. Our planning will continue through to my official arrival on July 1.  My wife, Eddy, our son, Colley, and I hope to return to Middleburg often, and look forward to meeting each of you as soon as we are able.

I was asked, when chatting with the faculty and staff, why I chose Middleburg Academy as my next school.  It occurred to me that you might also be interested in knowing the answer to that question. This is, for me and for my family, a very personal decision as much as it is a professional one.

From a professional perspective, I recognize that the educational foundations I value the most are in place at Middleburg Academy. I also see the potential in what the school offers to its greater community, as well in what the community can offer to the school.  I hope to fully explore the ways in which a Northern Virginia region that includes the thriving Loudoun County can also build a thriving Middleburg Academy. 

Some may wonder, and understandably so, why I would leave a large PK - 12 school to lead one that is considerably smaller.  It may not, at first glance, seem like a logical next career step. But for the Bell family, it feels completely right.  Eddy and I cherish -- and have missed -- the intimacy that a small school community provides.  At Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, there is no way I could possibly know every student by name when there are 750 of them.  The faculty and staff alone are equal in number to the student body at Middleburg Academy.  A small school experience is irreplaceable. It is the environment in which I was raised and it is one that I wish to return to.  We see Middleburg Academy as the complementary and fitting bookend to our lives in independent school administration. My plan is to grow old here!

As "school people" through and through, we also really enjoy on-campus living.  We look forward to making the Carriage House a welcoming place where we can get to know our faculty, our staff, and our students' families. Along with Mary House, we hope it might become a regular venue for hosting people in the greater community.

In closing, I would just like you to know that I am a big fan of Dr. Sykes.  As I told the faculty and staff, you will find little daylight between the outlook of Ron Sykes and Colley Bell.  Ron and I had the pleasure of working together on a project for VAIS, and I am very grateful for the many ways in which he has already welcomed and assisted me in my orientation to Middleburg Academy.  I cannot wait to be here.