Dear JCDS Community,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, it is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Dr. Susan Tanchel as JCDS’s next Head of School. On December 7th, the Board of Trustees met with the Search Committee and voted unanimously to offer Susie the position. She enthusiastically accepted our offer.

With the active participation and input from staff and parents, the Board of Trustees identified Susie Tanchel as having the desired qualities and attributes to succeed as our next Head of School. Susie is described as:

• A visionary and strategic thinker committed to high standards and continuous improvement;
• An accessible and involved leader who interacts joyfully with people of all ages and possesses wisdom, tenacity, energy and confidence;
• An extraordinary educator prepared to strengthen and lead an experienced administrative team and outstanding faculty;
• An articulate and effective communicator, ready and able to inspire the broader community to support the school and its mission;
• A listener and a facilitator with a track record of collaboration, team-building and collegiality;
• A person of respect and menshlichkeit who will truly embrace the range of practices and perspectives represented in our pluralist community;
• A talented administrator with the ability to manage, delegate, empower and motivate;
• A person of impeccable integrity and a true mensch.

Susie comes to JCDS from nearby Gann Academy, where she has taught for fourteen years, and where she is currently the Associate Head of School. Gann is the leading pluralistic Jewish high school in the region, and it enjoys a national reputation for educational excellence. We are confident that Susie brings the experience, skills, values, and vision required to guide JCDS through the next phase of its evolution as an exemplary Jewish day school with a unique commitment to educating the whole child in an atmosphere infused with joy, love of learning, Hebrew, and intentional pluralism.

I would like to thank the search committee who carefully considered applicants from across the country and carried out extensive research, including reviews of candidate dossiers, multiple candidate interviews, comprehensive two-day visits to school, collection of feedback from our staff and parents, and extensive reference checking. It was a privilege for me to be part of this effort. Thank you to co-chairs Fiona Epstein and Adam Shyevitch, as well as committee members Sharon Cohen Anisfeld, Allan Galper, Jared Matas, Richard Schaye, Tom Schwarz, and Dorit Zmiri, for the thoughtfulness, sensitivity, commitment, and time they have dedicated to this work over the past 8 months. I also want to acknowledge the wonderful professional support of Independent Thinking, our search consultants throughout this effort.

We are enormously grateful to Ruth Gass for her wise and sound leadership during her five years as Head of School. We will have time later in the school year to thank Ruth for her many achievements, and to get to know Susie better. Ruth is retiring this June and Susie will assume her new role on July 1st.

Please join me in welcoming Susie Tanchel to the JCDS community. To read Susie’s bio, please click on the link below.
Susie Tanchel Bio and Photo

Sincerely,
Alex Sagan
President, Board of Trustees