Director of Community Engagement Hire

Dear Harding Academy Community,

I am very excited to announce that the search for the Director of Community Engagement has concluded with the hiring of Jasmin Hopkins. Mrs. Hopkins will move out of her role as Second Grade Homeroom teacher into her new role on July 1, 2021. 

Mrs. Hopkins was selected after a thorough and rigorous search process which began in March with over 130 candidates. As the Search Committee members worked their way through an initial interview round to a semifinal round and the finalist round, the members spent many hours dutifully and thoughtfully providing feedback and insights into each candidate. I want to thank Aubrey Jordan, Rebecca Igleheart, Jay Codispoti, Laura Underwood, Eric Fecht, Brigida Derrick, Suzanne Nave, and Lauren Prince for their commitment to Harding Academy and the work they put into making this process a thoughtful one. 

We are excited that Mrs. Hopkins will take on the new Director of Community Engagement role. In this role, which serves on the Leadership Team of the school, Mrs. Hopkins will help us frame the work of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Harding Academy, while leveraging her expertise to further amplify our leadership development and community engagement programming at the school. Mrs. Hopkins fulfills the attributes of this role in that she is an individual who has a deeply held commitment to and passion for equity and inclusion on behalf of faculty, staff, students, families, and alumni - all community members. She is an excellent listener who can synthesize disparate points of view into a coherent, well-organized narrative that aligns with the mission and vision of our school. 

We find ourselves in a time of change - in fact, the only constant our children will experience is change. As a learning community in this context, we strive to build on an incredibly strong program and grow in a way that supports our students for the world in which they will live, work and lead. Mrs. Hopkins, as our new Director of Community Engagement, will help lead us in this endeavor. Please join me in welcoming Jasmin to this new role.  

Sincerely,

Dave