A Message From The Search Committee Chair

June 21, 2024

On behalf of the board of trustees and the head of school search committee, I am overjoyed to announce the appointment of Dr. Lori-Anne S. Brogdon as Mounds Park Academy’s fifth head of school in its 42-year history. Dr. Brogdon will assume the position on July 1, 2025, after Dr. Bill Hudson’s retirement, to build upon his remarkable 12-year MPA tenure.

Reflecting on her appointment, Dr. Brogdon shared what drew her to MPA. “I felt welcomed in every space I visited and appreciated the incredibly thoughtful and necessary questions that were asked of me throughout my time on campus. I’ve always been a dreamer and I believe in pouring my efforts into everything I do. Dream big, do right is a motto that I can not only stand behind but can also stand with and champion for MPA’s community and beyond.” Read more from Dr. Brogdon in her letter to the community.

As a community, we have selected an exceptional leader who is deeply aligned with MPA’s core values and ready to move the school’s strategic priorities forward. In alignment with the position description, the search committee was particularly drawn to Dr. Brogdon’s strong yet approachable presence and extensive PreK-12 experience.

With 25 years of leading and teaching in schools, Dr. Brogdon comes to MPA after five years as head of school at Catherine Cook School, a preschool through grade eight independent school in Chicago, Illinois. While serving as head of school at Catherine Cook, Dr. Brogdon led a comprehensive strategic planning process, increased the faculty and staff’s collaboration and mission focus, furthered the school’s commitment to DEIB, increased support for students who are neurodiverse, and fostered the alignment of curriculum across the entire school. She also increased annual giving and managed a large capital building project—all while navigating a global pandemic.

Trustees, parents, and faculty at Catherine Cook described Dr. Brogdon as a collaborative yet decisive leader with high integrity. Michelle Kilkenney, former board chair, trustee, and former and current parent, shared, “Lori-Anne dreams big, but is laser-focused on the goals.” Bhavan Suri, former trustee and current parent, described the deep passion and enjoyment she takes for informal interactions with the children—from playing games in the hallways to welcoming back alumni. She is relentless in building relationships and putting what’s best for students of all ages at the center of her decision-making. She has deep expertise in progressive education and in curricular alignment that will serve MPA well in the years to come.

Prior to Catherine Cook, Dr. Brogdon served as the assistant head of school and academic dean at Poly Prep Country Day School, a nursery through grade 12 school in Brooklyn, New York. Highlights of her time at Poly Prep include overseeing academic and co-curricular programs, developing more equitable hiring practices, and both supporting and advancing the academic leadership staff.

Dr. Brogdon also has extensive division leadership and classroom teaching experience across all grade levels. She’s served as a Middle School director and principal as well as a Lower, Middle, and Upper School math and science faculty member. She earned her B.A. at Connecticut College, her M.A. at Teachers College, Columbia University, and her Ed.D. at Teachers College, Columbia University.

During the 2024-25 school year, Dr. Brogdon will serve as interim head of school at Groves Academy, a PreK-12 school in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, for students with dyslexia, ADHD, executive function challenges, and other language-based learning disabilities.

THE SEARCH PROCESS & COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Since the February 2024 announcement of Dr. Hudson’s retirement, the head of school search committee has led a comprehensive effort in partnership with Bob Vitalo and Jennifer Wong Christensen, consultants at Carney, Sandoe & Associates. I am thankful for the extraordinary knowledge and work that resulted in a strong pool of exceptional candidates.

To ensure an open and transparent search, input was invited and gathered from all constituent groups through initial community meetings and a community survey from which the position description was written. The engagement continued as the committee presented three finalist candidates to the community by offering open Q&A forums and requesting feedback via finalist surveys.

After deeply considering the community’s input and recentering itself on the position description that emerged from the community, the head of school search committee unanimously recommended Dr. Brogdon. The board of trustees voted unanimously for her appointment as well.

Throughout the search process, Dr. Brogdon emerged as the leader who best reflects the core attributes the community seeks in our next head of school. In the words of the MPA community:

• “Dr. Brogdon brings a sense of purpose, collaboration, transparency, and doing what’s right for kids. She has a sense of calm, directness, trust, and accountability. She has experience at all three divisional levels of the school, and different experiences as a learner. She has strong business/fundraising experience, and she is a relationship builder. I felt she embodied our vision of dream big, do right.” – faculty member
• “I liked how open she was during the discussion. She was not intimidating and seemed like she would be a great addition to the MPA community! She answered our questions effectively and with ease. She mentioned that she would sit-in on classes and overall appeared to align with MPA core values well. I would definitely be happy with her as the head of school.” – student
• “I appreciated that she says she is a servant leader and takes a collaborative and relationship-building approach to leadership. I felt as if my voice would be heard and considered if she were to be in this role. I also was impressed that she was personable, and you could tell that she was a person who is deep feeling and would care about the MPA community and its success.” – parent
• “Smart, thoughtful, compassionate, strategic, curious.” – alum

I wish to extend heartfelt thanks to the members of the search committee and specifically to Betsy Van Hecke for her steadfast leadership of the search. I also want to thank all community members whose participation and engagement ensured a thorough, thoughtful, and inclusive search process. MPA demonstrated to Dr. Brogdon and the other finalists what a warm and welcoming community it truly is. It was made abundantly clear that the MPA community has a deep love and appreciation for the school and is committed to seeing it continue to flourish through the transition and under Dr. Brogdon’s leadership.

MOVING FORWARD

Please watch for ways to celebrate the lasting impact of Dr. Bill Hudson throughout the coming year. Planning is underway for how we will honor his legacy while simultaneously welcoming Dr. Brogdon to the MPA community. Both are committed, in partnership with the board of trustees, administrative team, and the larger community, to working side-by-side to ensure a seamless and successful transition. Together, we will all see to it that our mission remains strong for many, many more years to come.

Sincerely,

Tiffany Scott Knox
MPA Parent
Chair, Board of Trustees

• Jeremy Drucker ’97, vice chair, board of trustees
• Yamini Kimmerle, MPA parent, Lower School faculty
• Kari Kunze, MPA parent, MPA parent of an alum, Upper School faculty
• Jason Martinek, MPA parent, board of trustees
• Chad Nicholson ’97, MPA parent
• Tiffany Scott Knox, MPA parent, chair, board of trustees
• Mark Segal, MPA parent, Upper School director
• Lamar Shingles, MPA parent, director of equity and belonging
• Benjamin Silberglitt, MPA parent, board of trustees
• Michelle Smith Ware, MPA parent, board of trustees
• Betsy Van Hecke, MPA parent of alumni, chair, search committee, board of trustees
• Natalie Waters Seum, MPA parent of an alum, director of admission and communication

As MPA searched for the fifth head of school in the school’s 42-year history, the school partnered with Robert Vitalo and Jennifer Wong Christensen with Carney, Sandoe & Associates to lead the search with a search committee chaired by Betsy Van Hecke.

In collaboration with the community at large, the board of trustees, the search committee, and the school, Carney, Sandoe & Associates prepared a position description:

Dream Big. Do Right. Mounds Park Academy (MPA), a leading independent school in the Twin Cities, engages students in a rigorous college-preparatory experience that cultivates dreamers and doers. Founded in 1982, the school is progressive in spirit. With the focus on the whole child, the academic program is demanding, but not draining, and goes far beyond memorization. Students are challenged to apply their understanding to stir the human spirit, stand for justice, and shake the world. At MPA, this is called rigor with purpose and it grounds students in the radical idea that their identity in the world is not measured by a test score, but by the depth and decency of their impact on the world. The fact that all divisions reside under one roof allows for the development of meaningful, collaborative relationships across grade levels. Students are self-directed, internally motivated, and as proud of their own accomplishments as they are of their classmates’. MPA believes that it is only through this type of positive, supportive community are students able to discover who they are meant to be. A student noted, “Our teachers are dedicated, engaging, and caring. They teach us to be independent thinkers as well as collaborators. And they teach with passion and fuel our passions, too.”

POSITION DESCRIPTION >

Mounds Park Academy and its board of trustees committed to an open and transparent search process with as many opportunities as possible for community engagement. The search began in February 2024 and concluded with the announcement of the new head of school in late-May 2024. Carney, Sandoe & Associates meet with members of the MPA community February 22-24, 2024 in order to create the position description. Candidate recruitment began immediately after, and the search committee reviewed candidate dossiers in March and selected semifinalists for first-round interviews in April. Finalists were on campus in May, and the search committee forwarded their recommendation to the board. The voted on the recommended candidate and an announcement was made shortly afterward.

Jennifer Wong Christensen and Bob Vitalo from Carney Sandoe & Associates were on campus on February 22 and 23. During that time, they met in person or virtually with more than 70 community members, including faculty, staff, students, current and former parents, alumni, and trustees. In addition, more than 100 community members responded to the community survey, sharing their hopes and dreams for the future of Mounds Park Academy and its next head of school.

The next opportunity to engage with the search process was in May when finalists were on campus for two-day interviews. The visits involved a robust schedule of interactions with students of all ages, parents, parents of alumni, alumni, trustees, faculty, staff, administrators, and the search committee. In addition, each finalist met with Dr. Bill Hudson.

Knowing that Carney, Sandoe & Associates and the search committee already ensured that all finalists are highly qualified school leaders, the campus visits were used to determine cultural fit with MPA. Equally important in this phase was ensuring the finalists felt warmly welcomed at MPA and got to know the community, school, and environment.

Mounds Park Academy was committed to an open and transparent search with frequent communication as needed. All past communication are logged here for the community to reference.

Please direct any additional questions to headsearch@moundsparkacademy.org and those that are frequently asked will be added to this list.