Process Update, November 30th

I am very excited to share with you that the Board has selected Dr. Russell Smith to be our new Head of School.

As you are probably aware, the process of selection of the new Head of School started many months ago once Dr. Patricia Feltin announced her decision to retire as the Founding Head of the school after 33 years of meritorious service to the school and to the educational community at large. We are truly fortunate to have had such a luminary at the helm of Eton for such a long time.

A search committee consisting of the Board members, members of the faculty and the parent body was formed in April/May of this year. Under the guidance of our consultant Tracy Bennett of Ian Symmonds and Associates, the committee formalized a list of semi-finalists from across the country and abroad. After a thorough and exhaustive interview process we brought to campus three highly qualified finalists who spent two days each at the school. Parents, staff and faculty had a chance to interact with the candidates and provide very useful feedback. We thank the finalists for their time and effort in coming to campus and their interest in Eton School. The Search Committee also deserves special thanks for the long hours spent in this process and their single-minded dedication in this search. The final selection was made after careful deliberation and thought. We strongly believe that in Dr. Russell Smith we have found the right fit for Eton.

Russell is a founding member of the Middle School faculty at the Alexander Dawson School, a preK - grade 8 school in Las Vegas and has been Head of Middle School there since 2007. Russell spent most of his childhood growing up in Miami where his mother worked at the University of Miami. He’s happy to report that he attended a Montessori school from age 3 through grade 2. At the age of 13 he and his family sailed across the Atlantic on their 44-foot sailboat and maintained a nomadic lifestyle in and around the Mediterranean. Russell spent some of this time in boarding school in England, and his experience of living in Europe had a profound impact on his worldview. Upon returning to the states, Russell became a dedicated student of history and earned his B.A. and M.A. in that subject from “The U”. He later received his Ph.D. in history from Arizona State University. Russell enjoys playing tennis ("badly" - as he puts it) and golf ("even worse" - his words again) and spending time with Rebecca, his wife of five years.

In the next few weeks we will be forming a transition team that will be tasked with not just welcoming Russell and Rebecca into the Eton fold, but also recognizing the strong legacy that Pat Feltin leaves behind. On behalf of the Board I solicit your help in making this transition. The next few months promise to be exciting as we celebrate the past and look ahead to our bright future.

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