Thomas Jefferson School
St. Louis, MO
Head of School: William C. Rowe
Head of School Search for July, 2011
Thomas Jefferson School (TJ) was founded in 1946 as a boarding school for boys, grades 9-12, and as an experiment in faculty governance. It became coed in 1971 and added grades 7-8 by 1981. Among the current 85 students there is a good balance of full-time boarders (43%), five-day boarders (14%), and day students (43%) who share rooms with the boarders. Many of the boarders are international students. The 21-acre suburban campus contains a Main Building (a large manor house with offices, classrooms, and an art gallery), Sayers Hall (with labs and classrooms), a kitchen/dining hall (2001), seven dormitories, a faculty home, a fine-arts studio (2008), an expanded gymnasium (also 2008), five tennis courts, and a soccer field.
The TJ core curriculum provides students with an unparalleled classical, liberal-arts education in English, mathematics, science, social studies, and foreign languages (Greek, Latin, French, Italian), supplemented by fine-arts classes twice a week, team and individual sports, and a number of activities. Most upper-class courses are taught at the AP level, and a typical senior’s program is all AP. Students average high in ability; median SAT scores for seniors in the past decade are CR710, M670, W690 (combined 2070 is among the highest in American boarding schools). Typical class size ranges from six to sixteen students. The college placement record is outstanding. The school gives students an unusual degree of responsibility and autonomy, with substantial homework, 35-minute classes (all in the morning), and a focus on lively daily discussion. Students plan their time and do their work independently, while teachers keep office hours and provide extra help.
The Board of Trustees seeks an outstanding educator to lead this vibrant school with a commitment to classical education and boarding school life in a warm, supportive, and close-knit community. The Board consists of seven alumni, past parents, and friends of the school, plus all full-time faculty members who have been with the school more than five years (the Head among them). This Faculty Trustee group manages the school in partnership with the Head, and key decisions (e.g., curriculum, hiring of new faculty) are made collaboratively by consensus or vote. The Head is thus “first among equals” within this group but remains the school’s chief representative and its top authority vis-à-vis the rest of the staff, the students and parents, and the public.
For further information about the school, please contact Katherine A. Betz at: (314) 314-821-8281 or Deirdre A. Ling at: (508) 696-7708 or visit the school’s website at www.tjs.org. Interested candidates should email in MS Word a letter of interest, resume, personal statement and five references to:
Katherine A. Betz, Partner
Educators’ Collaborative
15 Westwood Forest
St. Louis, MO 63122
Phone: 314-821-8281
Email: kbetz@educatorscollaborative.com
-AND-
Deirdre A. Ling, Partner
Educators’Collaborative
P.O. Box 819
West Tisbury, MA 02575
Phone: 508-696-7708
Email: daling@comcast.net