Dear Bryn Mawr Community,

With summer break just around the corner and the energy of a wonderful school year drawing to a close, we are pleased to share an update on our Head of School search.

Earlier this month, our search consultants from Carney, Sandoe & Associates visited campus, meeting with students, employees, parents, trustees, and search committee members. They held additional Zoom sessions, including with a group of dedicated alumnae. The overwhelming takeaway from these conversations was a shared appreciation for Bryn Mawr’s joyous community and a deep alignment on our strengths and future opportunities. 

The insights gathered from these listening sessions, combined with a strong response to our online survey, directly shaped the newly finalized Head of School Position Profile. This document will serve as our primary tool for introducing Bryn Mawr’s unique story to prospective candidates.

Community Survey Insights

Our recent survey received a remarkable 600+ responses from current and past parents, employees, alumnae, trustees, and friends of the school. This strong participation reflects the community’s deep commitment to Bryn Mawr and engagement in this search process.

At a high level, the feedback affirmed several consistent themes:

• Our Core Strengths: Respondents highlighted the school’s academic excellence, strong student-faculty relationships, commitment to community and belonging and deep history and traditions. 
• Priorities for our Next Leader: Top priorities include nurturing continued academic excellence, hiring and retaining exceptional faculty, fostering students’ character development and engaging meaningfully with all members of our community.
• Key Qualifications & Qualities: Respondents emphasized the need for an approachable, trustworthy, and forward-thinking leader who has experience hiring, supporting, and managing faculty and staff; an understanding of the needs of a girls’ school community; and leadership within independent schools. 

In the open-ended comments, our community added even greater depth. You wrote beautifully about amplifying the high academic standards for which Bryn Mawr is known, while ensuring our girls are prepared to lead with resilience in a complex world. The feedback also emphasized the critical importance of nurturing Bryn Mawr’s community and sisterhood, honoring the school’s commitment to affordability and access, continuing to build an inclusive community, and recruiting and retaining exceptional faculty who are increasingly reflective of our diverse student body.

Looking Ahead

This collective feedback—both the data and the personal narratives—ensures our Position Profile authentically reflects what we value most and outlines the opportunities and expectations that will define the next Head of School’s leadership. The profile is now being shared with prospective candidates.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this critical early phase. Your bold voices are guiding this process and will continue to inform the committee’s work in the months ahead. We look forward to sharing another update with you at the beginning of the new school year.

With appreciation,

Jamila Webb P’24 and Redonda G. Miller P’23, ’27
Search Committee Co-chairs

Dear Bryn Mawr Community,

We are writing to share an update in the search for Bryn Mawr’s new Head of School and to notify you of some upcoming opportunities to get involved and share your input. 

Search Firm + Committee

We are pleased that Bryn Mawr has retained Carney, Sandoe & Associates (CS&A), an internationally recognized education search and recruitment, consulting, and coaching firm, to partner with us in the search for our next Head of School. CS&A brings deep knowledge of independent schools drawn from over 45 years of experience in guiding schools through searches for exceptional heads of school, senior administrators, and faculty. We are excited to work with Allison Gaines Pell, Bob Vitalo, and Marsha Little as our consultants. We are confident that they will be insightful, accessible and strategic as we deliberate about the best leader for Bryn Mawr’s future.

The Board of Trustees has assembled a Search Committee whose members will work closely with our consultants throughout this process. It will be the responsibility of the Search Committee to screen and evaluate candidates and to make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, which will make a final decision on the successful candidate. As co-chairs of the Head of School Search Committee, we are joined by 11 members, including parents, alumnae, and faculty representatives from each academic division, all of whom have served on the Board of Trustees. The members of the Search Committee are listed at the end of this letter.

Campus Engagement

Our aim is for the search process to be as inclusive and transparent as possible, affording the Bryn Mawr community multiple opportunities to provide input and share aspirations for the school with our search team. As a first step, the consultants will visit campus on Wednesday, May 13, and Thursday, May 14, to begin the process of listening and learning about Bryn Mawr. They will have conversations with community members to gather information and thoughts about Bryn Mawr’s strengths, its challenges, and the qualities desired in the next Head of School. More details of their visit will be shared in the coming days.

In conjunction with the mid-May visit, we will invite community members to share their perspectives on the Head of School search and Bryn Mawr’s future through an online survey. Responses will be instrumental as the Search Committee and CS&A create the Head of School position description. 

Timeline

We expect our search process to continue over the summer and into the fall of 2026 with the goal of naming a new Head of School before year-end to begin tenure on July 1, 2027. We are confident that we will find an individual who is committed to the philosophy, mission, and beliefs of The Bryn Mawr School and who can build on our strong momentum.

While we are committed to a transparent process, we must also honor the need for candidate confidentiality. This ensures our ability to recruit and interview the most talented leaders who may currently be serving in high-profile roles. 

Updates

For ongoing updates, we have created a Head of School search page on our website and set up a dedicated email address at HOSsearch@brynmawrschool.org for you to share any thoughts or questions with the Search Committee. We look forward to your input and to the thorough process that will help us identify the next amazing leader of The Bryn Mawr School.

We are honored to lead the Search Committee and grateful for your support and all that you do for Bryn Mawr. If you have any questions, please reach out to the Committee at the email address shared above.

Sincerely,

Redonda G. Miller P’23, ’27 and Jamila Webb P’24, Search Committee co-chairs

Alisha Caruso, Lower School Representative
Sandy Cho ’92, P’26 ‘28
Justin Curtis P’31
Ellen Smith Dew ’01, P’31
Jennie Lee Williams Fowlkes ’65, P’89 ’91 ’96, GP’29
Elizabeth Himelfarb Hurwitz '93, P'26 '31
Reema Khanchandani, Upper School Representative 
Emily Mathews Wachtmeister '07, P'38
Katie Walsh P’34,’36, Middle School Representative
Ted Winstead P’22
Rhonda Smith-Wright ’95

Dear Bryn Mawr Community,

Today, Sue Sadler announced her decision to retire as Head of School in June 2027. While we receive this news with a mix of emotion and profound gratitude, we celebrate a leader whose tenure has been defined by an extraordinary enthusiasm for Bryn Mawr’s mission and a visionary commitment to the school’s future. As our tenth Head of School, Sue’s legacy is visible in every corner of our campus and woven deeply into the fabric of our school.

Under Sue’s leadership, Bryn Mawr has reached a position of remarkable strength, fortified by the launch of the Bryn Mawr, Beyond strategic plan. This framework prioritizes the balance between academic excellence and the holistic wellness of every student. Sue’s commitment is evident in the major expansion of Student Support Services and her work in elevating Institutional Equity and Inclusive Practice to a senior director role, ensuring that a Bryn Mawr education isn't just about what our girls achieve, but about who they become and how they are supported along the way.

Sue’s impact is equally felt through her stewardship of our physical and digital campus. She has overseen facilities updates across every division, including the major renovation of Higinbothom Hall and transformational plans ahead for the Upper School. Her forward-thinking leadership ushered in the launch of Bryn Mawr Online, boldly expanding our mission beyond Baltimore. Whether navigating the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which she tirelessly prioritized keeping our doors open for students, or overseeing significant growth in both our enrollment and our endowment, Sue has acted with unwavering integrity and admirable dedication to Bryn Mawr. As she prepares to pass the baton, she leaves behind a school that is thriving, vibrant and more relevant than ever.

The Path Forward 

The Board of Trustees is charged with the significant responsibility of selecting Bryn Mawr’s next Head of School. We undertake this duty with a clear sense of purpose and a commitment to the stewardship of our 141-year-old mission. Given Bryn Mawr’s national reputation as a leader in girls’ education, we are confident that we will attract a field of exceptional, visionary candidates ready to build upon the school’s extraordinary foundation and momentum. 

The Search Process 

We believe that a successful search requires the engagement of our entire community—parents, alumnae, employees and students. We are committed to a process that is transparent, inclusive and thorough.

In preparation for these next steps, the Board has appointed trustees Redonda G. Miller P’23, 27 and Jamila Webb P’24 to chair our Head of School Search Committee, which will include a diverse representation of trustees, alumnae, and parents. In the coming weeks, we will share a detailed outline of the search timeline and the various ways you can expect to participate. We expect to name our next Head of School in the fall, with a start date of July 1, 2027.

Celebrating Sue 

While the search for a new leader begins, our focus remains on the present. Sue will continue to lead Bryn Mawr with her characteristic enthusiasm and thoughtful attention through the end of the 2026-2027 academic year. Over the next year, there will be many opportunities for us to come together to celebrate Sue’s transformational leadership and her lasting impact on our school.

The greatest tribute we can pay to Sue is to ensure that Bryn Mawr continues to be a place where girls’ capabilities are unquestioned and their potential is limitless. We thank you for your continued partnership and support of The Bryn Mawr School.

Most sincerely,

Rhonda Smith-Wright ’95
Chair, Board of Trustees

Dear Bryn Mawr Community,

On my very first walk to campus as Head of School, I followed a little rabbit all the way from my house to my office, as if she were showing me the way. With no idea what lay ahead, it felt like such a good sign. Since that moment, leading Bryn Mawr has felt like a magical journey.

My days have been filled with the laughter of children in the Graduation Garden, friendly impromptu conversations with parents in the porticos, bearing witness to our remarkable faculty in action, connecting with our amazing alumnae, brainstorming with a fabulous leadership team, and envisioning the future in collaboration with the Board of Trustees.

These years have included Bryn Mawr's signature experiences like the screaming energy of seniors bursting with excitement at the year’s first carpool, the visceral drum beat of our Spirit Day parade down Melrose Avenue, daisies and green tutus cheering on the sideline for championship athletics teams, and the “march” of generations of students and alumnae in our annual Gym Drill. These joyful moments make it bittersweet to take the next important step for myself and the school, and that is to announce my retirement. 

Bryn Mawr is thriving. I am immensely proud of what we have built together: We have set a new standard for girls' education by striking a vital balance between uncompromising academic excellence and the holistic wellness of our students, while simultaneously prioritizing the people who make that excellence possible through enhanced employee compensation and support. We have physically transformed our campus with refreshed facilities in every division that inspire modern learning, and we have fortified our foundation by significantly growing both our enrollment and our endowment, positioning us for a bold and sustainable future. In joy and in sorrow, this community has come together to do what's right for our students every step of the way. Our girls are the heart of everything we do, and I am deeply grateful to have played a part in securing a future that is as bright as they are.

It truly is an honor and a privilege to lead this amazing institution. I’m especially grateful for the incredible community support I have received throughout my tenure and look forward to continuing to embark on exciting new work together. And I’m equally excited for this incredible opportunity to find the next leader of this magical school with a mission that is worthy and noble.

From that first day, Bryn Mawr has felt like a home for both my husband Mark and me. It has been such a big part of our lives that it’s hard to imagine leaving, but we are ready. As Chaucer says, “But at the laste, as every thing hath ende, She took hir leve, and nedes wolde wende.” 

And more importantly, Bryn Mawr is ready! With joy, pride and gratitude, I respectfully announce my retirement as of June 30, 2027. I will be proud to pass the baton to the next visionary leader.

Always and forever shouting the love,

Sue Sadler
Head of School