Ms. Schurdak has been working as an administrator with this age group for over 20 years and is excited to join Pingry, having been struck “by the commitment of the Middle School faculty to educating middle schoolers… They are both serious and joyful about their work.”
Head of School Tim Lear
Pingry proudly welcomed Timothy Patrick Lear to his new role as our Head of School in July 2022. As a member of the Class of 1992, Tim is a loyal son of Pingry who becomes just the fourth graduate in our 161-year history to be named Head of School. Tim most recently served as Pingry's Assistant Head of School for Guidance and Student Life after 14 years as our Director of College Counseling.
Following a seven-month, nationwide search process, the Board of Trustees voted unanimously to appoint Tim as Pingry's 17th Head of School effective July 2022. As part of the formal announcement, Board of Trustees Chair Ian Shrank '71 shared his thoughts on this exciting new chapter for Pingry:
"We are thrilled to have chosen an exceptional leader and educator who is deeply aligned with Pingry’s core values and ready to move our strategic priorities forward in a way that unites the entire school community. Tim is already a well-known, trusted, and respected leader—both at Pingry and within the broader community—and the Board of Trustees has full confidence in his ability to take Pingry to even greater heights."
Communications | 2022-23 Academic Year:
Letters from Head of School Tim Lear
- March — Letter to the Pingry Community
- January — Letter to the Pingry Community
- December — Letter to the Pingry Community
- Fall / Winter — Pingry Review Magazine
- November — Letter to the Pingry Community
- October — Letter to the Pingry Community
- September — Letter to the Pingry Community
- September 2022 — Convocation Remarks
Convocation Remarks
- PDF — Convocation Remarks
- VIDEO — Convocation Remarks
- VIDEO — Full Convocation Ceremony
Letters from Board Chair Ian Shrank
- July 2022 — Letter to the Pingry Community
Communications | Head of School Search
- February 2022 | Letter from Our Next Head of School
- February 2022 | Tim Lear Named Head of School
- January 2022 | Candidate Finalists Selected
- November 2021 | Position Description
- September 2021 | Head of School Survey
- August 2021 | Search Committee Named
- July 2021 | Letter from Ian Shrank and Jeff Edwards
February 2022 | Letter from Our Next Head of School
February 2, 2022
Dear Members of the Pingry Community,
It is truly the honor of a lifetime to have been chosen to serve as Pingry’s next Head of School. The depth of my gratitude for this opportunity is matched only by my excitement regarding the work that lies ahead and all that we will accomplish—together.
Pingry is a special place because of the people, because of the relationships and the mentorships that we get to build with students and with one another. As a student, I experienced the many ways that Pingry encourages us to foster these bonds. And the inspiration and guidance that I received from teachers and coaches changed the way I see myself and the world and confirmed for me the crucial role that educators play in society.
I came home to Pingry nearly 15 years ago because I felt cared for during my days as a student. I believed that people were invested in my success and my well-being. Today’s Pingry is no different, and it will be a privilege to lead a school committed to supporting our students as they build relationships, grow in confidence, and realize their potential to meaningfully impact the world.
As our next Head of School, I will be honored to continue telling Pingry’s unique and evolving story; to build on its promise to emphasize character and inspire joy; to continue prioritizing and ensuring student and adult happiness and health; to hold in esteem Pingry’s Honor Code and mission; and to further define what success and community mean at Pingry. I am energized by the School’s commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, and by the fact that everyone at Pingry plays a vital role in this vision and work. I believe that actively listening to others and inviting them to share their stories is a powerful way of building trust and community. I am eager to learn from your stories and partner with you to define our future.
I extend my sincere thanks to the Head of School Search Committee for their tireless efforts and their unfailing dedication to Pingry, and for now entrusting me with the responsibility of leading this exceptional school. I also owe my family an equal measure of gratitude for their unwavering support and their willingness to embark on this important and life-changing journey.
The Pingry School is also a family; a place where everybody wants everybody else to succeed. And that feeling of belonging is evident not just in our classrooms, but in our hallways and in our offices, during games, on stages, alumni events, and after-school activities.
Community is what unites us, and brings us back. I cannot wait for you to join me as we write Pingry’s next chapter together.
Sincerely,
Tim Lear
Assistant Head of School for Guidance and Student Life
February 2022 | Tim Lear Named Head of School
February 2, 2022
Dear Members of the Pingry Community,
On behalf of Pingry’s Board of Trustees and the Head of School Search Committee, we are delighted to announce the appointment of Timothy Patrick Lear as Pingry’s next Head of School. After a thorough process, the Search Committee unanimously recommended Tim to the Board of Trustees, who also voted unanimously in support of his appointment to succeed Matt Levinson effective July 1, 2022.
Tim knows and loves Pingry. His long history with our school, starting with his days as a student over 30 years ago and in his current role as Assistant Head of School for Guidance and Student Life, demonstrates an unwavering commitment to Pingry. We are thrilled to have chosen an exceptional leader who is deeply aligned with Pingry’s core values and ready to move forward with the School’s strategic priorities in a way that unites the Pingry community around its mission to foster in students a lifelong commitment to intellectual exploration, individual growth, and social responsibility.
A long-time New Jersey resident, Tim graduated from Pingry in 1992 and then received both an A.B. in English from Princeton University and an M.A. in English from Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. After 10 years at Oak Knoll School as an English teacher, academic advisor, and ultimately the Director of College Counseling, Tim returned to the Pingry family in 2007. For nearly 15 years, Tim has led Pingry’s College Counseling department, taught English, served as academic advisor, coached Varsity Cross Country, assumed leadership of Student Support Services, and in July 2021, was named Assistant Head of School for Guidance and Student Life.
Tim is married to Eleanor Lear, a lifelong English teacher who taught at Kent Place School, Summit High School, Hood River Valley High School in Oregon, and the Fundación Neotrópica in Costa Rica before coming to Pingry in 2015 to teach Middle and Upper School English. The Lears have three children, all of whom attend Pingry: Hyla ’25, James ’27, and Tighe ’30.
Tim Lear’s appointment as Pingry’s 17th Head of School makes him just the fourth Pingry graduate to hold this position. It also marks the culmination of an extensive seven-month process that began last summer when we announced that Matt Levinson had accepted the headship position at San Francisco University High School and would be returning to the West Coast to begin his new role on July 1, 2022. Pingry’s Head of School Search Committee, consisting of Trustees (including both alumni and current parents) and members of the faculty, engaged Carney, Sandoe & Associates (CS&A) to serve as our search consultant partner.
Widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading independent school search firms, CS&A brought over 40 years of experience to the table, including a deep knowledge of and familiarity with the work, expectations, and culture of schools like Pingry. The firm’s search team was led by CS&A President Devereaux McClatchey. We then turned to you — the members of our Pingry community — to help us define the professional and personal qualities, the temperament, and the right blend of experience that we needed to find in our next Head of School. Over the course of approximately two months, our CS&A partners made multiple visits to Pingry and conducted extensive interviews with faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, administrators, and Trustees. Our online survey gathered additional qualitative and quantitative feedback from over 750 respondents, and more than 500 people participated across 33 separate listening and learning sessions that were made available both on-campus and virtually via Zoom.
The significant and thoughtful input the Search Committee received is a testament to our shared love for Pingry. Your guidance played a vital role in the development of our Head of School Position Description, which CS&A distributed to a broad network of educators and thought leaders around the country and around the world. It came as no surprise to the Search Committee that an exceptionally strong pool of talented candidates with an impressive breadth and depth of leadership experience was attracted by Pingry’s reputation for excellence — in combination with its mission, history, welcoming community, financial stability, and vision for the future as set forth in our Strategic Plan.
We asked, you answered, and your voices were heard. The feedback, insights, and perspectives gathered from across the entire Pingry community were simply invaluable. The guidance you provided coalesced around several important themes, including: the importance of Pingry’s academic excellence and innovation; the need to maintain an unwavering focus on the learning needs and passions of each individual student; and the vital role that the Honor Code must play in the daily lives of the student experience. It was made crystal clear throughout the search process that our next Head of School needed to be someone who embodied Pingry’s mission and values, championed our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB), and embraced the widely shared desire for a heightened focus on building community and stability. We know we have found the right person in Tim Lear. With his long history and love of Pingry, along with his steadfast commitment to bringing our community together, Tim rose above the other highly qualified candidates.
Head of School Matt Levinson will continue to lead Pingry until the end of June, and he and Tim will actively collaborate over the coming months. We are grateful for Matt’s commitment to work closely with the Board, the administration, and Tim to guarantee a seamless transition for our community and provide Tim with the opportunity to assume his new role from a position of strength and positive momentum.
We express our sincere gratitude to Matt for his contributions to the Pingry community over these past three years. Matt steered Pingry through a time like no other in both the School’s and the nation’s history. While facing challenges on an unprecedented scale, Matt delivered a first-in-class, nationally recognized educational experience for our students, making in-person learning a reality while also building out our technology infrastructure so we could pivot on a dime to remote learning when necessary — all while also ensuring the health and safety of every member of our Pingry community.
We extend our sincere thanks to our fellow members of the Search Committee for their hard work and dedication. Special thanks are also due to Lisa Reichart, Executive Assistant to the Head of School, for her invaluable efforts and talents, and to our partners at Carney Sandoe for their excellent work: Devereaux McClatchey, Heather Flewelling, Seliat Dario, and Jessica Wright. Their commitment to this process along with the crucial input we received from all of you — administrators, faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, and current, past, and honorary members of the Board of Trustees — allowed us to select the best candidate to lead our remarkable institution.
Please read this message from Tim to the community, and join us in welcoming Tim Lear as Pingry’s 17th Head of School!
With warmest regards,
Ian Shrank ’71
Chair, Board of Trustees
Lori Halivopoulos ’78, P ’23
Trustee
Co-Chair, Head of School Search Committee
Stuart Lederman ’78
Trustee
Co-Chair, Head of School Search Committee
Pingry Head of School Search Committee:
- Denise Grant P ’23, Trustee
- Lori Halivopoulos ’78, P ’23, Trustee, Co-Chair Search Committee
- Dev Ittycheria P ’19, ’22, Trustee
- Judy Lebowitz, Upper School Latin Teacher, Mentor Program Director
- Stuart Lederman ’78, Trustee, Co-Chair Search Committee
- Leslie Miller P ’29, ’31, Lower School Physical Education Coordinator, Health Teacher, Lower School Enrichment Coordinator
- Jason Murdock, Middle School History Teacher, Admissions Counselor
- Margaret Santana P ’22, ’24, Former Trustee and Past President of The Pingry School Parents’ Association
- Kevin Schmidt ’98, Trustee and President of the Pingry Alumni Association
- Ian Shrank ’71, Chair of the Board of Trustees
January 2022 | Candidate Finalists Selected
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November 2021 | Position Description
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September 2021 | Head of School Survey
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August 2021 | Search Committee Named
August 16, 2021
Dear Pingry Community,
We are writing to share with you the progress made to date in the search for Pingry’s next Head of School. As we move towards this goal, we will be periodically updating our community with pertinent information and opportunities for involvement. We thank you, in advance, for your engagement in this process and hope that you share in our excitement and confidence that the search for Pingry’s 17th Head of School will yield an outstanding leader.
Ian Shrank, ’71 and Jeffrey N. Edwards, ’78, P ’12, ’14, ’18 (current and former Chair of the Board of Trustees, respectively), asked us to serve as co-chairs; we are honored to accept this responsibility and look forward to working with the Pingry community.
Since the July 1, 2021 letter announcing Matt Levinson’s departure, a Pingry Head of School Search Committee was formed and includes representation from both trustees and faculty:
- Denise Grant, P ’23, Trustee
- Lori Halivopoulos,’78, P ’23, Trustee
- Dev Ittycheria, P ’19, ’22, Trustee
- Judy Lebowitz, Upper School Latin Teacher, Mentor Program Director
- Stuart Lederman, ’78, Trustee
- Leslie Miller, P ’29, ’31, Lower School Physical Education Coordinator, Health Teacher, Lower School Enrichment Coordinator
- Jason Murdock, Middle School History Teacher, Admission Counselor
- Margaret Santana, P ’22, ’24, Former Trustee and Past President of The Pingry School Parents’ Association
- Kevin Schmidt, ’98, Trustee and President of the Pingry Alumni Association,
- Ian Shrank, ’71, Chair of the Board of Trustees
After interviewing and evaluating several outstanding firms, the Head of School Search Committee has engaged Carney, Sandoe & Associates (CS&A) to serve as our search consultants. CS&A has over 40 years of experience in placing leaders, administrators and educators in independent schools and is widely recognized in the educational search industry. Recent Head of School searches include The Spence School, Collegiate School, Deerfield Academy, Westminster School and Morristown-Beard.
The particular consultants leading our search bring extensive experience in and deep knowledge of the work and culture of schools like Pingry. Devereaux McClatchey, President, who will lead the firm’s search team, has over 20 years of experience in executive search with CS&A and has led the firm since 2004. Joining Devereaux are Heather Flewelling, Chief Talent Officer & Search Consultant, Seliat Dairo, Senior Associate.
Our hope is to have a new Head of School in place by July 1, 2022. However, we are entering into the hiring cycle late in the calendar for positions of this caliber, and we will prioritize finding an exceptional new leader for Pingry over any particular timeline. Therefore, it remains possible that an interim Head of School will be appointed, and we will continue our search for a permanent placement to begin on July 1, 2023.
It is our goal to be as inclusive as possible in this search, and we will make sure that there are numerous touch points with a variety of members of our community, including parents, students, administrators, faculty, staff and alumni. Some of the ways we will gather information include an online survey and CS&A-led virtual listening and learning meetings that will take place in the coming months. All of this feedback will serve to inform a compelling school statement and position description reflecting our desired qualities in a new Head. The position description is the document from which all candidates will be evaluated.
In order to attract the caliber of candidates we desire, a certain level of confidentiality is necessary. Out of respect for candidates who are currently employed in top leadership positions at other institutions, our search will remain confidential up until the finalist round, at which time we aspire to introduce final candidates to a wider group of community members and gather feedback.
As the search progresses, please do not hesitate to reach out to us with your input and feedback via the following email: headsearch@pingry.org.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Head of School Search Committee, we are hopeful that you share in our excitement for our Head of School search. Thank you in advance for your confidence and engagement as we move through this important process.
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July 2021 | Letter from Ian Shrank and Jeff Edwards
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EDUCATION:
- Middlebury College
Bread Loaf School of English
M.A. English, 2003
- Princeton University
A.B. English, 1996
- The Pingry School
Class of 1992
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
- The Pingry School
Head of School
July 2022-Present
Assistant Head of School for Guidance and Student Life (Kindergarten -- Grade 12)
2021-2022
Dean of College Counseling & Director of Student Support
2020-2021
Director of College Counseling
2007-2020
Teacher / Academic Advisor
2007-2022
- Oak Knoll School
Director of College Counseling
2003-2007
Teacher / Academic Advisor
1997-2007
- Brewster Academy
Academic Tutor and Coach
1996-1997