In an email sent on Tuesday, March 25, Director Search Committee Co-Chairs Naima Walker Fierce and Erin Zagnoev announced Carney, Sandoe & Associates will assist USN in finding the Director and consultants’ upcoming site visit.
Dear PDS/USN community,
We are pleased to write to you about USN’s Director search, the process we will follow, and our anticipated timeline.
The Board of Trustees’ Director Search Committee, announced last month, is working closely with Carney, Sandoe & Associates, the independent school search firm the Board has retained, to identify our next Head of School. The committee followed a procurement process that included interviewing representatives from four firms. CS&A is an internationally recognized education search firm with extensive knowledge of independent schools, and we especially value the strong pipelines it has previously built in bringing faculty to USN. The firm has nearly 50 years of experience successfully guiding K-12 schools through searches for exceptional heads of schools. We are especially excited to work with the experienced and talented three-member team of Darryl Ford, Marsha Little, and Marguerite Lloyd.
CS&A will visit our campus next week to get to know the USN community and meet with a wide range of community members, including students, faculty, staff, administrators, families, and trustees. We invite faculty and staff to join CS&A on Wednesday, April 2 at either 7:15-8 a.m. in the Gordon Multipurpose Room or 3:30-4:15 p.m. in the Payne Library Room. We invite parents and families to join CS&A on Wednesday, April 2 at either 8:15-9 a.m. in the Gordon Multipurpose Room or 4:30-5:15 p.m. in the Payne Library Room. The purpose of these sessions is for our consultants to understand the many perspectives on the Director position. And student voice is critical in supporting the scout for our next Director.
Shortly after their visit, we will solicit your feedback through a community-wide survey to help CS&A write a new position description and find candidates to help carry out our school’s strategic plan, mission, and guiding principles. Please watch your inbox for more information about that opportunity to offer written input in the coming weeks.
As we prepare for our next steps, please note that CS&A has advised we remain flexible with respect to the search timeline, given the extremely competitive landscape of leadership recruitment. We will communicate as the search process unfolds and endeavor to share as much as possible while maintaining the confidentiality necessary to recruit and interview the most talented educational leaders. We anticipate opportunities for the USN community to meet finalists in the fall and will solicit your feedback on those candidates.
Thank you for your participation in this search process and do reply to directorsearch@usn.org with any questions you may have about this process.
Sincerely, Naima Walker Fierce, Trustee, Director Search Committee Co-Chair
Erin Zagnoev, Board Vice President, Director Search Committee Co-Chair
The girls lacrosse team ended its season in overtime to become state runner-up. Tennis players Carter Kojetin '29 finished as a state quarterfinalist, Sophie Oliver '26 and Mary Kate Adler '28 finished as state semifinalists, and Veer Kodali '29 and Max Parker '29 finished as state champions. Meanwhile, eight runners competed at the state track and field meet in Knoxville, where Griffin Davidson '27, Caleb Freifeld '28, Drew Zwerner '28, and Jack Fruin '27, sprinted to first in the 4x800m relay and Jack also placed first in the 800m dash.
For the entire USN community: an invitation to give in gratitude, in celebration, and in honor of the woman who has given so much to our school. Make a gift at usn.org/giving to support students with needs beyond tuition and honor Interim Director Juliet Douglas.
The Middle School Quiz Bowl finished off another successful season with a trip to the Middle School National Championship Tournament in Chicago. The team fought hard and ended the season as a top-100 program in the country, finishing 75th overall. Congratulations to the team on a great performance and to Lucas Lupu ’31, named an All Star for being the fifth-highest scorer nationwide.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.