Steve Piltch
Steve Piltch has spent more than four decades in education as a teacher, administrator, board member, and more. He served as head of the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, PA for twenty-seven years. He is currently Executive Director of the School Leadership Program at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education, where he leads a program focused on accelerating the growth and trajectory of mid-career educators in both private and public schools.
Steve holds a bachelor’s in Psychology from Williams College, as well as a doctorate and two master’s degrees from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Steve began his career as a teacher, coach, and advisor at Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Ct. for six years before moving to Boston. While in Boston, he taught in the Newton Public Schools for two years, coached squash at Harvard, and served as Assistant Director of Athletics at Harvard as he pursued his graduate degrees.
Steve became Head of School at Shipley in 1992. Under Steve’s leadership, Shipley became the first school of Positive Education in the United States, an educational approach built on research from across the world demonstrating that students are healthier and achieve better in the classroom and in other areas of life when they are supported and encouraged as individuals. He also led multiple capital campaigns, including a $50+ million effort in his last years at the school to transform of Shipley’s campus through the development of a new academic and community hub and the improvement of the school’s athletics and arts facilities.
Since departing from Shipley in 2019, Steve has led the School Leadership Program at Penn while serving in a consultative capacity for an array of independent schools. In his consulting, Steve focuses on high quality governance, the psychological well-being of communities, and strategic planning. Steve has served on numerous boards over the course of his career for organizations that focus on mental health, governance, and education. Currently, among others, he serves on the board of The Gesu School, Minding Your Mind, SpeakUp!, and Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI).
Steve and his wife, Sunny Greenberg, a lifelong educator in her own right, live in Philadelphia. They have three adult children who live in the northeast.
Professional Experience
- Educators’ Collaborative LLC – Partner, 2021 – Present
- UPenn Graduate School of Education – Senior Fellow and Director of School Leadership Program, 2019 – Present
- The Shipley School – Head of School, 1992 – 2019
- Harvard University – Director of Athletics; University Supervisor; Principals’ Center Administrator, 1986 – 1992
- Choate Rosemary Hall – Form Dean for Class of 1983; Psychology and Math Teacher, 1977 – 1983
Education
- Williams College, B.A., 1977
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, M.Ed., 1994, 1998
- Harvard Graduate School of Education, Ed.D., 1991
Professional Affiliations
- Board member on six independent school boards and eleven other organizations between 1990 and 2020, including the Gesu School in Philadelphia, 2006 – Present
- Minding Your Mind, 2009 – Present
- SpeakUp!, 2010 – Present
- Children’s Literacy Initiative (CLI), 2019 – Present
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Professional Experience
- Educators’ Collaborative, Partner, 2003 – present
- Middlesex School, MA; Head of School, 1990 – 2003
- University of Massachusetts at Amherst; Vice Chancellor for University Relations and Development, 1983 – 1990; Assistant Chancellor, 1982 – 1983; Dean of Academic Support Services, 1981 – 1982; Dean of Admissions, 1979 – 1981; Director of Freshman Admissions, 1978 – 1979
- State University of New York at Stony Brook; Assistant Director of Admissions, 1974 – 1978
- Western Michigan University; Admissions Counselor, 1973 – 1974
Education
- University of Rochester, B.A. Philosophy, cum laude, 1965
- University of Rhode Island, M.A., English, 1968
- Tufts University, Teaching Assistant, Ph.D. English, 1976
- Klingenstein Visiting Fellow, Teachers College, Columbia University, 1996
Professional Affiliations
- The Louis August Jonas Foundation, 2009 – 2014
- Headmaster’s Association, 1993 – present
- Head Mistresses Association of the East, 1990 – present
- National Association of Principals of Schools for Girls, 1990 – present
- Falmouth Academy; Board of Trustees; 2003 – 2009
- Fay School; Board of Trustees; 2003 – 2009
- Council for the Advancement and Support of Education; Board of Trustees; 1993 – 2003
- Educational Records Bureau, Board of Trustees, 1996 – 2003
- Emerson Hospital, Board of Trustees, 1996 – 2003
- NEASC, Commission on Independent Schools, 1994 – 1995
- AISNE, Board of Trustees, 1992 – 1995
- The Martha’s Vineyard Museum, Board of Directors, 2007 – 2010
- The College Board, 1983 – 1987