In announcing Barry’s selection, I also want to continue the transparency that was a hallmark of the search itself. Below, I want to share the following critical background elements:

• The selection criteria that framed our search process;
• The defining qualities that distinguished Barry in our search;
• Barry’s background; and
• The path ahead and some reflections on our journey to this successful outcome

Key Selection Criteria and Barry’s Fit with McLean School

With our search consultants at Carney Sandoe, our Search Committee surveyed McLean’s key constituents – including parents, faculty, and administrators – to develop a rigorous set of attributes that would guide our evaluation of Head candidates. A snapshot of those attributes is below. From interviews, reference checks, leadership-style profiles, and your feedback to our Search Committee, it became clear that Barry’s background, talents, and approach to leadership are in vivid alignment with these criteria. Indeed, in many cases – and in particular, McLean’s mission itself – Barry embodies these attributes:

• A strategic growth mindset. Barry brings creativity and strategic thinking to a collaborative leadership model that not only advances school priorities, but does so in a way that prioritizes and strengthens culture, in-classroom excellence, healthy growth in enrollment, reputation, philanthropy, and facilities. He supports his teachers’ professional growth and puts students at the center.
• Authentic, experienced, steady leadership that harnesses the collective wisdom of his organization and community. Barry is an experienced Head of School and a strong and effective leader. He prizes relationships and is guided by respect for the shared humanity of others. Barry exudes these qualities and we saw its strong pull on the faculty, students, administrators, and families.
• Connector and relational community builder. Barry’s strength as a communicator begins with his emphasis on listening. He approaches – embraces – relationships with genuine interest, which is matched, in turn, by his intellectual curiosity, deep empathy, and a sheer joy for people – and students most especially.
• A role model who elevates individuality, diversity, and inclusion. Barry will tell you that he learns differently and often felt “dumb” as a student in traditional schools. He learned the power of self-confidence and self-advocacy (and the power of his mother Doreen’s tireless advocacy in schools that preferred traditional learners). He came to understand the beauty of being, as he first put it to us, “perfectly imperfect.” The Abilities Model® is more than an educational philosophy for Barry – it’s his philosophy in life. Barry’s philosophy of celebrating individuality will extend to all aspects of our students and connects deeply to McLean’s method and mission to celebrate diversity and inclusion. In one sense, Barry may be new to McLean; in ways that are most important, Barry is McLean.

Barry’s Background

Barry’s academic journey as a student growing up in Queens and Long Island, and then as an educator in locations ranging from Upstate New York to Dallas, Texas, began with athletics, as a place where someone who learned differently found his stride. He became a coach and through that, discovered his love and passion for teaching in roles as Head Basketball Coach and Athletics Assistant Director in the 80s and 90s, particularly at Eastern Connecticut State University and St. Lawrence University in New York. Shifting to the K-12 classroom in the early 2000s and then as Dean of Students and Middle School Head in several highly-regarded schools – Flint Hill, Brooklyn Friends, Greensboro Day – from 2008-2019, Barry honed his skills and approach for independent school operations and leadership. In 2019, Barry became Head of School for St. Anne’s Episcopal School in Delaware, where he has reversed declining enrollment, built a stable financial foundation, strengthened the community and its philanthropy, and moved St. Anne’s “from being the best kept secret in the community, to a sought after destination for families.” Now, Barry sees McLean as the culmination of his career, where he hopes to be for a long time.

The Path Ahead

Barry will begin his Headship on July 1, 2024. This will enable Barry to finish his work at St. Anne’s School, just as Mike is doing here, with a final year to prepare St. Anne’s for his transition. This period will also allow Barry to get to know McLean better via periodic, focused visits. In the interim, and as noted previously, we are incredibly fortunate for the exceptional leadership of Interim Co-Heads, Jeff Berman and Melissa Gray-Hughes for the 2023-2024 school year. Melissa and Jeff will continue to lead McLean’s growth on its strategic priorities, which you will hear more about, and have the opportunity to discuss with them directly, in the coming weeks and months.

Reflections on Our Journey

Finding the right Head of School for McLean, and a successor to a highly successful, pioneering ten-year Head in Michael Saxenian, is hard. And it takes a community – both to get it right and to inspire confidence that sets up our next Head for success.

It takes time and the right team. We started this process last July, selecting the Search Committee that would lead the process – starting with Eric Greenberg, our Search Committee Chair (who hired Mike and helped guide us to Jeff and Melissa). Eric, who is also an alumni parent and uncle of a current McLean grade eight student graciously accepted another tour of duty at McLean and has worked tirelessly since. In addition to drawing on his previous multi-term tenure as Board Chair, Eric brought a track record of excellence in hiring McLean leadership, a piercing intellect and clarity, a distinctive sense of humor, and a wonderfully warm and consensus-driven style of leadership. We want to thank Eric, for his uniquely capable leadership of the Search; he did so exceptionally.

Joining Eric and me, in my ex officio role as Board Chair, has been a wonderful cross-section of the “village” that is McLean:

• Faculty members Bill Dunn and Terri Hamm (from Upper and Lower Schools respectively)
• Administrators David Roth, Jenny Whichard ’92 (also an alumna and former parent), and Bobby Edwards
• Parents Kerrie Thomas Armstrong and Cynthia Cubbage
• Alumni Parent David Gregory, and
• Trustees Leah Larson-Rabin (and parent), Mary Wright (and alumni parent), and Dev Talvadkar
• Former Trustee, Hurley Doddy

Our confidence in our search is rooted in the thoroughness of the Search Committee’s work. In over 50 meetings over the last nine months, the Committee reviewed 16 candidates presented by Carney Sandoe (who sourced and interviewed many, many more), interviewed and evaluated 12 semi-finalists, and then 4 finalists. As much as the Committee’s work was rigorous, it was marked equally by an esprit de corps among a diverse group who became trusted colleagues and then fast friends. While the members’ dedication to McLean brought them to this work, we found in it genuine joy, frequent laughter, and deep meaning. But at every moment, it was the future of our School, the interests of our teachers and students, and the expression of the community’s perspectives that grounded our work. On behalf of the entire McLean community, we say to our Search Committee: Thank you!

And you, the McLean Community, were essential to this process -– and to this selection. You shared your perspectives – from the attributes that guided our selection to the feedback that informed our decision. Thank you on behalf of the School, the Search Committee, and the Board of Trustees. We absolutely couldn’t have done this without you.

Now is the time to honor and celebrate Michael Saxenian. In the coming weeks, we will celebrate Mike’s incredible legacy. From the financial grounding he brought early in his tenure, to the expansion of our facilities; from his commitment to consensus to his vision for growth; and from his expression of McLean’s Abilities Model® to his innovative expansion of our programming, we have much to acknowledge. But today is the moment when Mike’s extraordinary legacy connects with McLean School’s still boundless potential.

Today is a moment of both gratitude and excitement. This announcement is a celebration of all that has been accomplished and all that is still ahead. Connecting our past, present, and future is McLean’s mission to serve our students, to support our administrators, faculty, and staff, and to create an inclusive McLean community. In the future leadership of Barry Davis, those values are assured, our community will find connection, and McLean’s future will remain bright.

Barry has a warm and welcoming letter below my signature and I encourage you to read it.

Warmly,

Jim Cigliano
Chair, Board of Trustees

When asked, why McLean, I reflect on little Barry Davis, my seven-year-old self, and the struggles he had academically, never feeling like school was the place for him. I think of my two sons, Alex and Jordan, who each would have benefited greatly from the small class sizes and the Abilities Model®. I think of the pride and passion associated with the many achievements garnered in an environment where one is truly known, loved, and appreciated for who they are as an individual, and of never again hearing someone say you can’t, but focusing on the many ways you can. McLean is inspirational, and most definitely transformational.

While I take a moment to reflect on what lies ahead for McLean with me as the Head of School, there are a few things that resonate in everything I do and the core of who I am. Listen with your heart. Listen to hear and understand as opposed to respond. People remember how you make them feel, not necessarily what you said. Be present, be honest, be transparent, and be compassionate.

One needs only to step on the campus to experience a culture that, like fertile soil, will allow everyone to grow. With the addition of the new Lower School campus, it will be more important than ever to focus on a “one-school approach.” We will take time to look at all of the rally points that bring the school community together and be intentional about celebrating these traditions, as well as establishing new ones. Through regularly scheduled school-wide events, we can connect to what it means to be a Mustang. McLean is an amazing school, and I am excited about joining the team because I know that everyone can thrive here, all children and all families.

This message must first resonate within our buildings with students, families, faculty, staff, and administration. Our Strategic Plan will provide a roadmap to continued success in all programs, including academics, visual and performing arts, and athletics. As we look to increase enrollment, I feel strongly that you grow from the inside out. By connecting with current families and letting them know how much they are appreciated, it reminds us all of why we chose McLean. Our children and families are our best ambassadors as we look toward continued growth, remembering that community outreach begins in-house.

I look forward to working with our faculty and understand that ongoing Professional Development is critical to support the needs of our students, as well as looking at the future of education. As things get challenging, many will want to revert to pre-COVID norms as the default; however, as we have seen in many professions, the answer is not behind us. We must remember that the strength of our children comes from their joy, imagination, and the freedom to be their authentic selves. I see in McLean a community that celebrates difference and recognizes the individual in a space that draws its strength from the community, a place where we embrace the fact that we are all perfectly imperfect, striving to be our best selves.

Students, Parents, Faculty, Staff, Alumni, Alumni Parents, Grandparents, and Friends of McLean, I am so looking forward to partnering with you and appreciate your continued support. Because of all of you, McLean has been able to reach the highest heights. I am anxious to meet with you, to hear your McLean story, to know your hopes and dreams, and to find the places where our stories intersect. I know that together we can continue to raise the bar and build on the work of Michael Saxenian and those who believed in “The McLean Difference.”

In her poem “Journey,” Nikki Giovanni says,

“I am not afraid . . . of rough spots . . . or lonely times . . . don’t fear . . . the success of this endeavor . . . I am in a space not to be discovered . . . but invented.”

McLean Family, I am so humbled and excited to be joining you on this journey, and am proud to be a Mustang!

In Friendship,

Barry L. Davis