From the Desk of the Head of School- May 10, 2019

Dear Parents,

As we begin to prepare for the final countdown of the school year (Monday marks 8.5 days left of school….but who’s counting?), I wanted to send a quick update on our faculty and staff searches up to this point. We are in a very strong position in that our faculty retention regularly registers at the top of our benchmarking group. When a faculty member comes to Harding Academy, they stay… and if they leave, it is most likely because they are moving out of town, looking to focus on family, or retiring.

The latter reason is the case for two of our faculty this spring. Suzanne Little will be retiring from her 3rd grade homeroom and Ann Lyle will be retiring from Kindergarten. We have been a lucky learning community for having had these incredible educators in our midst. We will celebrate Ann Lyle on Monday, May 13, at 3:30 PM in the library, and Suzanne will be honored on Monday, May 20, at 3:30 PM in the library. If you are able to attend, we would love to have you there to send them off in style!

Please see an update on our searches below.

Farewell
  • Molly Meyer recently let me know she will not be returning next year. She will be taking a job with an educational publishing company, which will allow her to work from home with flexible work hours and thus spend more time with her one-year-old daughter, Callie.
Internal Moves and Job Changes
  • Luke Countryman will move into our new PE position. As the middle school brings the PE program into the curricular day, we are excited to have Luke step into this role full time. He will also coach at least two sports. Luke is currently the long-term substitute for Elizabeth Snyder in 5th grade.
Searches and New Hires
  • Luke’s move from full-time substitute to PE teacher has started a search for his replacement. We are very close to finalizing our hire for this position and I hope to make an announcement next week.
  • Our Kindergarten search is very close to being finished and I hope to make an announcement soon.
  • Allison Cunningham has come on board to take over in Suzanne Little’s 3rd grade classroom. Allison graduated from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville in 2013 with a BS in Business Administration and finished her Master of Education at Middle Tennessee State University in 2015. She received the Excellence in Teaching Award from MTSU in 2015. Since that time, she has been teaching 3rd Grade at Trinity Elementary School, where she most recently served as the 3rd Grade Team Leader. Allison will also take over head coaching duties for early fall and winter cheerleading.
  • We have launched the 2nd grade search and I am excited to report that we have a strong pool of candidates.
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