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Sidwell Friends School

Announcement from Head of School Tom Farquhar
December 17, 2012

Last week the McLean School of Maryland announced that their next Head of School (effective July 1, 2013) will be our SFS Assistant Head of School and Chief Financial Officer, Michael Saxenian.

I have extended warm congratulations to Mike, even as I experience the sadness of knowing that soon a wonderful colleague and a good friend will leave our Sidwell Friends School community. But Mike's distinctive contributions to the present-day strength of our school as an institution will stand as an enduring legacy of his extraordinary service here.
For a decade, Mike led the planning, design, financing, and construction for a series of new and renovated buildings that have transformed facilities on our two campuses into models of program support and environmental sustainability.

In the academic realm, Mike advocated for the reintroduction of economics into the curriculum, then designed and taught the senior elective, Global Perspectives on Economics. He was deeply engaged in development of our Long Range Priorities, and he led the creation of the Information Services Department, melding academic technology with IT to provide better delivery of classroom technology.

As Head of School at McLean, Mike will lead an independent day school with a highly-regarded college preparatory program that embraces students with different learning styles. Founded in 1954 and located in Potomac, Maryland, McLean has been recognized for its transformational impact on diverse learners by means of differentiated instruction and learner-centered classrooms.

We have begun the search for Mike's successor at Sidwell Friends. If you know - or know of - a person who might have the experience and skills to serve the role of CFO at Sidwell Friends (see SFS website<http://www.sidwell.edu/news/article/index.aspx?linkid=33409&moduleid=379>), please bring them to the attention of the clerk of our CFO Search Committee, Associate Head of School, Ellis Turner.

Years ago, my Head of School and friend, Earl Harrison, said: "It is a mark of our school's success that Sidwell Friends exports talent." At a time like this, I find consolation in these words.

Sincerely,
Tom Farquhar
Head of School