Head of ScHool for July 2014Bancroft School, Worcester, Massachusettsfounded in 1900co-educational Independent day School, 498 Students in Grades Pre-K - 12www.bancroftschool.org

Bancroft School is seeking a new Head of School for July 2014. Scott R. Reisinger has been the Head of Bancroft since 1999. During Mr. Reisinger’s tenure, the School has conceived and advanced significant educational and capital initiatives while remaining deeply committed to its core values and

to a tradition of academic rigor.

Bancroft seeks a warm, inspiring leader whose personal commitment to students and faculty, whose educational vision, and whose passion—grounded in demonstrated management ability—will ensure that Bancroft continues to embody excellence and innovation. Bancroft’s leader should be devoted to nurturing a culture where each student is encouraged to discover his or her own individual path to scholarship and success as a lifelong learner. Candidates will find tremendous opportunity at Bancroft. The School is well managed, well governed, and in a healthy financial position supported by an endowment.

Bancroft has recently announced its Vision 2016 as a blueprint to remain at the forefront of the educational opportunities of the 21st century. Vision 2016 includes initiatives for global learning, project-based learning, goodness education, and a school within the Lower and Middle Schools for students with certain learning differences. Yet Vision 2016 also remains substantially a framework, allowing the successful candidate to influence its direction and realization.

The new Head of School will lead a community of 498 students and 118 faculty and staff, with the support of 22 trustees. Bancroft also has 3,000 alumni worldwide. The alumni are very attached to Bancroft and engage actively in the life of the School; more than 20 alumni are current parents and six are members of the Board.

Bancroft’s attractive 34-acre campus includes eight buildings. The City of Worcester, second largest in Massachusetts, is on an upswing as a result of strong civic leadership, an emphasis on higher education given the 10 colleges and universities in the area, and a deep commitment to the arts. The University of Massachusetts Medical School anchors the city’s large medical community, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute is a leading technical university. Many Bancroft parents and trustees are medical and scientific professionals.

Mission

Bancroft, an independent, co-educational, college-preparatory day school, prepares talented, well-qualified, and motivated college-bound students, pre-kindergarten through grade twelve, to pursue and realize their academic, personal, and social potential. We provide a comprehensive, caring, and creative curriculum and extracurricular program that fosters an experience of excellence for each student. Inspired students, a superior faculty, and engaged families thrive in our diverse, safe, and supportivecommunity. We afford students the opportunity to discover their passion in life and to learn to embrace confidently and responsibly the moral and ethical challenges of being life-long learners, teachers of others, and citizens of an increasingly complex global community.

PRoFEssionAL CREDo

• We believe in children, their inherent goodness and capacity for growth, their potential as learners, and their promise as creators of a better future.

• We believe in embodying the School’s mission to inculcate children with the same values, sensibilities, practices, and attitudes that define us as life-long learners.

• We believe in the power of learning and teaching and in the importance of knowledge and academic excellence.

• We believe in modeling high character, honesty, integrity, and respect.

• We believe in collaborating as colleagues and in exercising our individual and collective responsibility to create a school characterized by inclusiveness, healthy challenge, and goodness.

• We believe in exemplifying perspective and balance, compassion, commitment, optimism, patience, reflection, flexibility, good humor, inquisitiveness, and openness to new ideas and possibilities.

— Brief Introduction —The pre-K through 12 configuration on one campus influences the culture and spirit of Bancroft as well as the curriculum. Younger students look up to older students as role models, and older students enjoy being role models for younger students and partnering with them on projects. Each first grader, for example, writes a book with help from a senior, and the annual all-school Halloween Assembly and senior “Haunted House” is one of the school’s hallmark events. The community is kind, compassionate, and warm. There is an open, inclusive, reflective style at Bancroft. The community is very welcoming of diversity. The touchstone has always been what’s best for the students, and all students are known, cared for, and loved.

Commitment to the needs of each individual student—recognizing and honoring the individuality of the student—remains the core of what Bancroft does. The School strives to achieve excellence in a context that makes sense for each individual student’s passions and goals, not to achieve excellence as defined by someone else. Bancroft recognizes excellence of all kinds and embraces different ways of understanding how students learn.

Bancroft offers an incredible variety of opportunities for a school its size. Academics come first, and Bancroft prides itself in offering a rich and challenging Pre-K through 12 curriculum. Special programs and co-curricular activities provide a wide range of opportunities.

• lower School offers regularly scheduled classes in science, art, drama, French, Spanish, library, music, physical education, computer science, and digital media. The Lower School will begin teaching Singapore Math next year. Two specialists monitor and assess students’ individual reading progress through fifth grade. Students’ lives are enriched by exposure to different cultural practices. Bancroft emphasizes public speaking, and students begin presenting at assemblies in Pre-K. Students conduct experiments in a state-of-the-art science lab, publish their writing in Paw Prints, and build and program Lego robotics in computer science. The fifth-graders participate in leadership training at Camp Kieve in Maine and perform a class play for the entire school.

• In the Middle School there are numerous opportunities for students to grow intellectually, artistically, athletically, socially, and emotionally. In the sixth grade, students study one trimester each of French, Spanish, and Latin for comparative study of language. The seventh-grade year begins with a 4-day, 3-night trip to Nature’s Classroom at Sargent Center in New

Hampshire. Eighth-graders perform in a fall play, deliver an individually written and developed “Forum” at a Friday Assembly in front of the Middle School, and solve a comprehensive Sludge Lab for science. Flex periods allow Middle School students to have one-on-one help from their teachers, organized by a coordinator at each grade level. “Practice Kindness” is the Middle School theme this year.

• The upper School curriculum offers numerous required and elective courses including 16 AP courses and a rich and varied arts program with courses in advanced acting, digital photography, ceramics, music theory, and jazz band. Bancroft’s speech team is nationally competitive, and Bancroft Middle and Upper School students routinely place in state and national robotics and science competitions. For example, during 2012-2013, a Bancroft student won the Massachusetts State Science & Engineering Fair and two other Bancroft students are national finalists in the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair. Starting in the 2012-2013 school year all students in grades 7–12 were able to study Mandarin, Level I, and Bancroft intends to grow the Mandarin program through the AP level. During their final semester, all seniors intern at local non-profits under the Senior Cooperative Program. Seniors select projects suited to their interests and skills and engage in real work, not just shadowing.

• iPad Initiative: As an example of Bancroft’s innovation, in 2011, a thoughtful evaluation convinced the Board and educators that iPads could greatly enhance the learning environment. Bancroft was one of the first schools to incorporate iPads in the classroom—supporting this development by training parents in iPad use—and iPads are now required for all students in grades 6-12. A Director of Technology and Director of Academic Technology led the School’s investment in technology, and Bancroft now boasts a wireless campus with more than 400 computers, scanners, cameras, and other digital devices; four state-of-the art computer labs; and 13 digital media courses from grade 1 through AP levels.

• Global Awareness: Bancroft’s Vision 2016 recognizes that successful schools must prepare students for an increasingly globalized world. Since 2009, Bancroft has participated in an

exchange program for students and faculty with a high school in Shanghai. Several Chinese students are now enrolled as full-time students in the Upper School, and Bancroft anticipates expanding this program to other countries in future years. Bancroft also anticipates introducing a foreign travel requirement for graduation. Currently, Bancroft offers several international travel opportunities each year for Middle and Upper School students. A new partnership with a school in Costa Rica allows Middle School students to participate in a weeklong, home-stay trip to Costa Rica for community service, studying Spanish, and discovering the local culture and economy.

• The Worcester Partnership: In 2003, Elm Park Community School and Bancroft teamed up to create the Worcester Partnership. The mission of this partnership is to enhance the educational opportunities and support for participating children from low-income families. The program, on the Bancroft campus, consists of a four-week summer component in which students from the Elm Park Community School pursue academics in the morning and camp activities in the afternoon, coupled with fall and winter Saturday classes. Bancroft students, faculty, and administrators participate in this program in various ways from clothing and book drives to volunteering with the Elm Park Community School children. Bancroft also offers four-year, full-tuition scholarships to two new qualifying ninth-grade students from the City of Worcester (Worcester City Scholars Program). Scholarships cover tuition, books, and all fees.

stuDEnts

2012-2013 Enrollment: ............ 498students from 56 cities & towns

Lower School ........72 boys & 70 girlsMiddle School .......64 boys & 65 girlsUpper School ......91 boys & 136 girlsInternational Students: .................. 8

(from China)Students of Color: ...................... 116

Admission for Fall 2012* Completed Applications: ........... 129Percent Admitted: ....................... 90 Percent Enrolled: ......................... 65Percent Financial Aid: .................. 28

* When the match does not look strong, Bancroft counsels families

not to complete an application.

Class of 2013:Average GPA: ........................... 3.28

SAT Middle 50%Critical reading: ............... 520 - 670Math: .............................. 530 - 680Writing: ........................... 540 - 690

Advanced Placement May 201292 students, 199 exams, 15 subjects

College MatriculationThe 52 members of the Class of 2013 completed 485 applications (33 states) and received 287 acceptances from 140 different colleges and universities.Over the past 5 years, the colleges and universities most attended by Bancroft graduates are: Boston College (14 students), Boston University (11), Holy Cross (8), Tufts (8), Brown (6)

• athletics and Physical education: All students participate in physical education and although there is no extra-curricular sports requirement, 75 percent of Middle and Upper School students participate in interscholastic athletics. Bancroft competes in 14 sports, including crew, in the Eastern Independent League (EIL) of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Conference (NEPSAC). Bancroft has a strong record of success in this competitive league. In the last 20 years, Bancroft’s athletic teams have been NEPSAC champions 80 times, and many Bancroft graduates go on to participate in college athletics. Girls’ varsity volleyball holds the Massachusetts state record for most consecutive wins.

• Community Service: Bancroft’s community service programs are highly supported. Lower School students participate in food and charity drives. Middle and Upper School students participate in community service at dozens of local agencies, from the Animal Rescue League and Friendly House to Urban Missionaries. As just one example, for 19 years, Bancroft students have dedicated Saturday mornings to CARE and Horizon. CARE (Children’s Art & Recreation Experience) offers local 6-12 year olds a chance to “buddy” with a Bancroft Upper School student for seven Saturdays in the fall and six in the spring for games, sports, arts, and crafts. Horizon offers local teenagers a chance to be part of a theatre performance. Together with their Bancroft student partners, they work on all aspects of putting on a performance, often writing the script or the music.

• Advisory Groups: With strong advising, comprehensive academic support, and dedicated teachers, Bancroft excels at keeping students from “falling through the cracks.” Middle and Upper School students are matched with a faculty advisor in groups of eight to nine students. Advisories meet weekly and provide counseling on academic progress and discussion of managing coursework and making good decisions.

• Resiliency Program: Bancroft is developing a school-wide program to teach students and faculty a specific skill set in Relaxation Response technique. Training for the faculty started with a half-day Benson-Henry Institute workshop. A mindfulness curriculum in the Lower School included yoga.

FACuLtyFull time: 66Part time: 2Mean years of teaching experience: 12Teachers with advanced degrees: 44 (67%)Faculty of color: 5Student-to-faculty ratio: 7:1

FinAnCiAL DAtABudget: ...................................$15mEndowment: ...........................$25mTuition: ............................................Pre-K: .................................$21,450

(full-day program) Kindergarten: ......................$21,450

(full-day program)Grades 1-5: .........................$23,700Grades 6-8: .........................$26,900Grades 9-12: .......................$29,500Financial Aid: .........................$2.5m

FACiLitiEs34-acre campus8 buildings, 80 classroomsMcDonough Center

(completed 2003)Fuller Science Center

(renovated 2004)Fletcher Athletic Center Harrington Performing Art CenterVisual Arts Center16 acres of athletic fields8 tennis courtsoutdoor basket ball court

— opportunities and expectations —The new Head of School will have an exceptional opportunity to shape Bancroft’s development. With an engaged Board, an experienced and energetic faculty and staff, and a student body remarkable for its range of backgrounds, interests, and talents, Bancroft is proud of its achievements and eager to pursue opportunities for the future.

Program

In January 2012 the Board of Trustees convened a strategic planning retreat, attended by more than 30 members of the Board, administration, and invited guests from around the country. The outcome of the retreat, Vision 2016, provides a blueprint for the future and sets five strategic initiatives. The Board expects the new Head to refine and support the development of these initiatives.

The Hope Graham Program — Bancroft’s “school within a school,” serving children in grades 1 – 8 with learning differences, has enrolled its first students for the 2013-2014 school year. This program is a natural evolution of the School’s commitment to “All Kinds of Minds,” and the School expects it to benefit all teachers and students, not just those in the program. Admission requirements for the Upper School remain unchanged.

The Bancroft “Learning Laboratory Method” — Although the idea of project-based learning is not new at Bancroft, the School is now examining its curriculum and providing professional development for the faculty to determine where and how to increase open-ended and inquiry-based opportunities for students at all levels.

The Bancroft Academic Center for Excellence (BACE) — BACE is a capital improvement initiative in the design phase. It will add an all-school, centrally located space as a nexus for student-centered learning, life, and culture. BACE will allow students from different grades to mix informally and in a learning context.

Global Studies— Bancroft has had a strong commitment to global studies for many years and is ready to create a more formal and expansive Global Studies Program. Key aspects of the program include enrolled international students (eight “home-stays” from China this year); an enhanced global studies curriculum; and a planned foreign travel graduation requirement.

Advancing Goodness — Bancroft has long been committed to building students of character, and teaching respect, tolerance, and citizenship at all levels of the School. Under this initiative Bancroft has set a goal of raising moral and ethical questions through healthy discourse across the disciplines, Pre-K – 12.

operations

Bancroft has thoughtfully and strategically addressed the economic challenges of the past five years, including increased competition and unfavorable demographic trends. • In 2012-13, the School introduced a pre-

Kindergarten program for four-year-old students.

• In 2011-12, the School began an extensive branding and communications campaign. Included in this work is the creation of a new School website, which will go online in the coming months.

• The School reorganized staffing as needed.• The School expanded its transportation plan

to support the outer reaches of Bancroft’s geographic service area.

Such threshold challenges will require the

new Head to continue to work with the administration and Board to build on and refine branding and marketing initiatives to enroll talented and diverse students. The Head must consider and ensure the right match between the School’s enrollment and structure. Personal outreach into the greater Worcester community to raise awareness of Bancroft and the excellence of it academics, arts, athletics, and student life will be an important part of the new Head’s work. The Head should also connect with the School’s alumni. The alumni are an impressive, influential, diverse and loyal group whose importance to the ongoing fiscal strength and vitality of the school cannot be overlooked.

— Qualities of leadership —The Search Committee is interested in candidates with strong organizational and strategic ability who understand and enjoy the dynamics of school life. The ideal candidate will have excellent interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills and an enthusiasm to advance the mission of Bancroft School. The Head must be an inspirational and energizing leader who intends to lead the School for many years and who cares deeply about connecting with Bancroft’s students, faculty, staff, alumni, and families, promoting the characteristic warmth and closeness of the School’s culture.

Qualifications

Candidates must have the experience and skills to deal with the broad range of school issues and, therefore, should demonstrate most, if not all, of the following:

❑ ability to view Bancroft as a “whole school,” not as separate lower, middle, and upper schools

❑ ability to recruit, retain, and motivate outstanding faculty

❑ commitment to the education of students’ character as well as academics, and to a school culture where arts, athletics, technology, community service, and co-curricular activities are all integral to the educational experience

❑ understanding of organizational development so that the administrative structure can support the fulfillment of the School’s mission and vision

❑ ability to communicate with faculty members, families, students, alumni, community members, and the Board of Trustees in ways that are clear, concise, and prompt so that these groups are appropriately informed of potential issues and or needs

❑ commitment to diversity and an inclusive community with a global perspective and cultural awareness

❑ ability to work closely and strategically with the Board of Trustees in building a true partnership in governance and leadership

❑ ability to direct a comprehensive external affairs program that includes admissions, fundraising, college placement, and broad community involvement

❑ understanding of the fundamentals of business and the economics of independent schools

Bancroft will be best matched by a leader who is a passionate and visionary educator, and a creative problem-solver who is strategic and able to prioritize. The leadership style should be down-to-earth, hands-on, and approachable; kind but firm. Candidates should be committed to being active in the Worcester community, focusing on those activities that enhance the School’s image in the community.

— Information on the Search Process and Calendar —A search is underway to identify a new Head of School by October 2013 to assume responsibilities on July 1, 2014.

Bancroft School is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and will follow NAIS Principles of Good Practice regarding Head of School searches.

Bancroft has engaged a national executive search firm, Educational Directions Incorporated, to assist the Search Committee.

Please direct all inquiries, applications, and nominations in confidence to:Christopher B. Arnold

Educational Directions Incorporated156 Anthony Road, Portsmouth, RI 02871

TEL: 800.647.2794 (ext. 1)carnold@edu-directions.com

Electronic submission of credentials is strongly encouraged.

Bancroft School is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer and seeks a diverse and broad spectrum of qualified candidates.

The compensation package will be within the expected norms of comparable NAIS schools.

Candidates should submit:• Cover letter explaining their interest in Bancroft

• Resumé• Personal statement

• Two written, professional references and the names, e-mail addresses, and telephone numbers of three additional references

calendar Application Deadline ...............................August 16 Candidates Notified of Status ............ September 5 Semifinalist Interviews ..............September 20 - 22 Finalist Interviews .............................October 3 - 11