January 17, 2023

January 17, 2023

Dear NPC community,

I hope that you all are enjoying a great start to the New Year.  The NPC Board of Trustees, along with educational consultant, Dr. Jerry Larson of Educational Directions, have been working for the last two months on a transition plan in advance of Todd Eveleth’s departure at the end of the school year.  I am pleased to announce that Danielle Beale has accepted the role of Interim Head of School for the 23-24 year.  We are so lucky to be able to appoint someone from within our organization who can confidently take the lead as we conduct a thorough search for our next Head of School.

You may know Danielle in her current role as Assistant Head for Advancement, or as the calm voice on the other end of the phone when your child has forgotten their lunch or needs an early release from school, but she is so much more than that. She has been integral in the development of our strategic plan, our ongoing initiative of DEIJ advancement, communications, admissions and other administrative tasks.  Before Danielle joined us at The Nantucket New School, she was a Marketing Contractor for AISNE (The Association of Independent Schools in New England).  Prior to that she held the position of Assistant Director at Montessori Academy Nevis and Director of Marketing and Communications at Nashoba Brooks School respectively.  Danielle and Todd have been working side-by-side for the last two and a half years and will continue to do so over the next six months to ensure a smooth transition as Todd prepares to leave and Danielle moves into this exciting role. 

In addition, this spring we will be looking to hire another interim staff member who will serve as support to Danielle, participate in the admissions process, and serve as academic and auxiliary support for the teachers and staff.  Dr. Larson will also help us fill this role. 

As an aside, hopefully some of you were able to meet with Dr. Jerry Larson when he came to visit our campus in early December for an initial assessment.  After his visit, Dr. Larson delivered a comprehensive report which notably described our community as “joyful.” He was impressed by the quality of the faculty and staff and the connection between the students and teachers.  He was also impressed by our remarkable culture.  I am certain that Danielle will prove an excellent steward of this organization and its culture of family and joy moving into the future. 

Danielle is more than ready to assume the interim Head of School role.  Her position will be bolstered by the strength and energy of our faculty, staff and student body. Please, be on the look out for continued communication from the Board of Trustees as well as opportunities for community engagement as the search process continues. 

As always, please feel free to reach out to me with any questions.
 
Sincerely,
Courtney McKechnie
President of the Board of Trustees
Nantucket Partnership for Children
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