WOODLYNDE SCHOOL STRAFFORD, PENNSYLVANIA HEAD OF SCHOOL START DATE: JULY 1, 2019 woodlynde.org Mission Woodlynde School serves students with diverse learning styles and empowers them to become strategic learners and self-advocates in an environment that provides both challenge and support. POSITION OVERVIEW “I was always underestimated until I got here. I have proved everybody wrong!” So stated a senior to the all-school daily assembly one morning in early March. While most schools do a great job in many ways, it is no exaggeration to say that Woodlynde School regularly and invariably changes lives…. the lives of the students who go there and the lives of their families. Coming from a variety of other schools, public and private, these capable students who happen to learn differently, find in Woodlynde School a place where they are accepted, supported, and provided the tools to succeed in college and in life. The educators who work at Woodlynde are a passionate, compassionate, dedicated, and highly skilled lot whose uncommon devotion to their students is rewarded every day by seeing the unmistakable impact of the work they do. Located on a spacious campus in beautiful Strafford, Pennsylvania on Philadelphia’s famous Main Line, Woodlynde enrolls about 275 boys and girls in grades K-12. With a variety of learning differences, these bright students are supported in a college-prep program by trained learning specialists, subject matter experts, and arts and athletics teachers in a 4:1 student-faculty ratio environment. With many consecutive years of balanced budgets, the school is well into a capital campaign to bring much needed additional spaces to the school. Many parents relate a journey of trying a variety of schools with limited success, only to find instant warmth and community, caring, and acceptance at Woodlynde. Described as a both physically and emotionally “safe” place, the school welcomes students from an amazing diversity of backgrounds, ethnicities, cultures, and learning styles. The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 1 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com Following a very successful eight-year run, during which he was acclaimed for having brought the school to great success, the current Head is leaving at the end of the 2017-18 school year to head a school in another state. A highly skilled interim Head will lead Woodlynde during the 2018-19 year to pave the way for a new permanent Head to start in the summer of 2019. SCHOOL HISTORY Founded in 1976 by a small group of parents, Woodlynde opened its doors on a former Episcopal diocesan estate called “Denbigh” in Gulph Mills. Starting with an enrollment of approximately 40 students, Woodlynde’s student body grew each year under the first head of school, Jack Hughes. Appointed Head of School in 1981, John M. “Hench” Murray implemented programs that established Woodlynde as a school that offers differentiated instruction to accommodate a wide variety of learning styles. Woodlynde flourished and upon purchasing the former Strafford Elementary School in 1984, moved to its present campus. In 1990 then-Board Chair David P. Montgomery launched the “New Generation” campaign in support of a new Lower School wing, an additional cafeteria, and a photography dark room. Woodlynde continued to flourish under the leadership of Head of School Jack Rogers, with the support of Board Chairs Kay Thomas and Michael Stiles. New outreach programs were established, and community service became a cornerstone of the Woodlynde educational experience. Upon Jack Rogers’ retirement in 2004, Hench Murray returned as Head of School until 2009 when Woodlynde’s current Head, Dr. Christopher Fulco, was selected by the Board, faculty, and staff. With The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 2 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com the support of past Board Chair Jane Mullany and current Board Chair Maryann O’Conor, Dr. Fulco has overseen a dramatic expansion of Woodlynde’s academic, learning support, college guidance, and student life programs. He also led the school’s first major gift campaign in over 20 years in support of Woodlynde’s newly enhanced campus. THE SCHOOL Woodlynde School is an independent, coeducational, college prep day school located on a beautifully landscaped 12-acre campus in suburban Philadelphia that serves intelligent, talented students with learning differences. Woodlynde provides a comprehensive, evidence-based academic program in a challenging yet nurturing environment for students who have language- or math-based learning differences (such as dyslexia, dysgraphia, or dyscalculia), executive function disorder, ADD/ADHD, auditory processing disorder, or simply need a small classroom environment in order to be successful. Woodlynde is proud of its positive impact on the whole family and is a valued and committed community leader and resource. The Woodlynde School Literacy Institute presents free speakers, panels, and workshops comprised of regional and national experts in the field of learning differences for Woodlynde families, educational and medical professionals, and those in the greater Philadelphia region. Past speakers and events included Dr. Ned Hallowell, Dr. Tamar Chansky, Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, Dr. Jennifer Jackson Holden, and dyslexia simulations presented by PBIDA. Woodlynde School also offers The Capstone Program, a post-graduate program in partnership with Rosemont College, as well as a regional summer camp for students who learn differently. The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 3 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com The school is accredited by the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS), which is a member in good standing of the National Association of Independent Schools’ Commission on Accreditation (NAIS), and the International Dyslexia Association (IDA). Woodlynde is an active member of the Association of Delaware Valley Independent Schools (ADVIS). WOODLYNDE’S UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP WITH PUBLIC SCHOOL DISTRICTS Woodlynde School is somewhat unique in the world of private schools in that the school sometimes receives public school dollars to educate students. Approximately 11% of Woodlynde students are fully funded by their public-school districts through direct district placements or settlement agreements. These students come from 15 school districts reaching from northern Delaware to the Lehigh Valley and into New Jersey. The school provides testimony to be considered by hearing officers in due- process hearings and/or court cases. At times, Woodlynde’s Head of School is expected to testify in hearings about Woodlynde’s strategies and services and the appropriateness of these services for individual students. This can require several hours in a hearing being examined and cross examined by attorneys. Woodlynde School benefits from the PA state law that requires all school districts to provide transportation for their students to any school, public or private, that is located within 10 miles of the closest boundary of that school district. Currently, 27 school districts provide transportation to Woodlynde School for students. In addition, Woodlynde contracts with a private transportation provider for two additional geographic areas, as well as providing its own van driver for students in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia van operates on a first-come-first-served basis and is predominantly used for the Lower School students. The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 4 [email protected] | www.carneysandoe.com ACADEMICS Woodlynde maintains a high standard of excellence in all that it does, with a commitment to providing the latest in proven instructional methods. A comprehensive education program includes multi- sensory instruction, metacognition, differentiated instruction, responsive classroom, and the Wilson Reading System®. Woodlynde utilizes a variety of assistive technologies to help students learn to their full potential. All students participate in a 1:1 laptop program. Each student in grades 6-12 receives a laptop loaded with cutting-edge technology tailored to their individual learning needs that they can use both in school and at home. Woodlynde students benefit from a challenging college-prep curriculum enhanced by expert and caring teachers, learning specialists, and school counselors who collaborate across disciplines and divisions to shape each child’s educational path. Individual learning profiles are shared among faculty, staff and parents, and they continually document the learning strategies proven to support student success. What makes Woodlynde School unique and so successful is the depth and breadth of its academic, social, and emotional support services that are fully integrated with its rigorous college prep program. These in-house services are provided by expert and attentive faculty members who care about Woodlynde students as both learners and as people. Woodlynde’s support programs themselves are not only incorporated into the school day, they also extend beyond to provide the extra help families may need as they navigate their child’s educational and developmental progress. The Homework Assistance Program (HAP) for students in grades 6-12 teaches successful study and homework strategies on weekdays after school. For parents who want to go above and beyond what Woodlynde provides in the classroom and after school, the Woodlynde Tutoring Program offers extra support in any subject area for any grade. The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 5 [email protected]