October 6, 2022

Dear St. Martin's community,

Following our semi-final interviews, we are pleased to share that we have selected four finalists who will be presented to the St. Martin's community and the Board. Each of these candidates has deep, demonstrated experience in executive school leadership and the background, perspectives, and skills that could benefit our community moving forward. Equally as important, these finalists show a clear, heartfelt interest in and enthusiasm for St. Martin's Episcopal School, this opportunity, and for living in Atlanta.

The Search Committee has made plans for visits by each finalist, along with their spouse/partner. These two-day visits will offer parents two opportunities (in-person and virtually) to meet candidates, hear about their career experience, and ask questions. These comprehensive visits will also include individual and group meetings with administrators, faculty, staff, students, the Rector, the Board, and the Search Committee.  

The dates for the upcoming visits are:

October 11/12

October 17/18

October 20/21

October 24/25

We want this process to be as inclusive as possible, and we will solicit feedback from members of the St. Martin's community in order to assist the Search Committee and the Board of Trustees in making the very best choice for our school. 

The process of selecting our next Head of School is exciting and extremely important to the future of St. Martin's. Thank you for your continued engagement and participation throughout our search. Remember, it is just as important in this process to "sell the school" as it is for candidates to "sell themselves." It is the commitment and involvement of our entire school community throughout this process that will strengthen our school's position.

Thank you for your support and participation in this very important process as we choose our next Head of School.

Best regards,

Shara Sanders & Austin Jowers, Chairs

SMES Head of School Search Committee

St. Martin's Episcopal School

Head of School Search Update

September 22, 2022

Dear St. Martin's community, 

On behalf of the SMES Head of School Search Committee, I want to take a moment to provide an update on our Head of School search. We are pleased to share with the St. Martin's community that the response to the opportunity to be the next Head of St. Martin's Episcopal School has been impressive. Your constructive feedback and ideas helped create a compelling position profile that attracted a highly qualified group of candidates. This is a great reflection upon St. Martin's mission, community, programming, and the exciting opportunities ahead for SMES. 

Our consultants at The Education Group shared the Profile with a broad range of educators and associations across the nation. Laura, Linda, and Allison pre-screened applicants, conducted formal interviews, and networked with numerous recommendations from around the country. The reputation of St. Martin's, coupled with the Position Profile, created a compelling pool of candidates. 

We are pleased to announce that the Search Committee met last weekend and selected the semi-finalists. We plan to interview these candidates over the next week and hope to narrow the search to 3-4 finalists by early October. At that time, we will invite the finalists to visit SMES to meet with representatives from the SMES community (teachers, faculty, parents, students, alumni, and church members).

We look forward to keeping you informed and involved in the continued stages of the search. It is important to note that this next phase of the search process must be confidential, and that will shape our communications. Over the course of the search, we welcome your thoughts, ideas, or concerns, so feel free to reach out to any member of the Search Committee.

Best regards,

Shara Sanders, Chair

St. Martin's Board of Trustees

Dear St. Martin’s families,

Happy July!
My name is Shara Sanders, and July 1 was my first official day as the Chair of the St. Martin’s Episcopal School Board of Trustees. I’m honored and excited about this opportunity. If you are new to SMES, I want to wholeheartedly welcome you to this special community. And for those who don’t know me, I joined the SMES family in 2013 when my daughter, Jillian, started Kindergarten. Since then, I have helped with numerous PTO committees and events, including chairing the Fling and serving as PTO Co-President in 2016-2017. I joined the Board of Trustees in July 2017 and was lucky to serve as Derek Porter’s Vice-Chair for the last two years. I look forward to serving as Chair and promise to do my best to uphold SMES’s mission of providing a quality education of the whole person in a loving, Christian atmosphere, which fosters lifelong learning. As such, I plan to provide regular school updates from the Board. 

Welcome Interim Head of School Michael Robinson!
As you know, our Interim Head of School, Michael Robinson, started on July 1. We are excited that he is on campus and working with the SMES team to prepare for the 2022-2023 school year. Michael visited the campus in May and met with Dr. Ottley, administrators, teachers, and Board members. Michael even saw 8th graders building their box cars and chatted with parents and students. Luis and Michael worked together to make the transition smooth, and we appreciate both taking the time to do so. Stay tuned for opportunities to meet Michael in the fall!  

Permanent Head of School Search Update
Our consultants at The Education Group have been hard at work searching for our permanent Head of School. After spending several days in March on campus meeting with parents, students, faculty, alumni, Board members, and more, the group developed a profile for the position. Numerous applications have been received, and the consultants are in the process of evaluating and screening candidates for the Search Committee to interview finalists this fall. We also added Middle School Science Teacher Brandon Collins to the Search Committee, since Kanette Fenstermacher rolled off the committee after being appointed Interim Middle School Principal. The search process is on schedule, and we will keep you updated on the progress. 

Thank you for choosing to be part of the St. Martin’s Episcopal School community. I look forward to seeing you at SMES in August.  

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer, and Go Warriors!  

Shara Sanders, Chair

SMES Board of Trustees

March 1, 2022

Dear St. Martin's Families,

Following the announcement of Michael Robinson as Interim Head of School for the 2022-23 school year, the St. Martin's Episcopal School Board of Trustees has assembled a talented and diverse Search Committee of individuals who are passionate about the future of the school's leadership. Following is a list of Search Committee members who will work closely with our consultants, The Education Group (TEG), to vet candidates for the role of permanent Head of School at St. Martin's.

Shara Sanders– Co-Chair, Trustee, Current Parent

Austin Jowers – Co-Chair, Trustee, Current Parent

Derek Porter - Trustee, Current Parent

Roger House - Trustee, Current Parent

Jennifer O'Leary - Trustee, Current Parent

Vince Vitti - Trustee, Alumni Parent

Greg Benoit - Trustee, Current Parent

Monica Mainwaring - Trustee, Rector

Blythe Marsau - Director of Admissions

Mary Ann McCormick - Early Childhood Teacher

Brandon Collins - Middle School Teacher

We now look forward to meeting with our consultants at TEG. We were impressed by TEG's assistance in our Interim Head search and, on March 15 and 16, the TEG team consisting of Laura Fuller, Allison Lorimer, and Linda Talton will be on campus to meet with faculty, administrators, students, alumni, the PTO Executive Board, the Board of Trustees, and the Search Committee. 

Parents will have a chance to meet with TEG at open meetings on Tuesday, March 15 at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 16 at 9 a.m, and a Zoom opportunity on Thursday, March 17 at 6:30 p.m.  These meetings represent our commitment to a collaborative and inclusive search process. 

We are honored to be co-chairing the Search Committee, and we will continue to update the SMES community on the upcoming meetings and search progress over the coming months.

Sincerely,

Shara and Austin

Search Committee Co-Chairs

November 12, 2021

Dear SMES Community,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we wanted to provide an update on the progress we have made since the October 20th announcement of Dr. Ottley’s departure at the end of this school year.  We are all excited to begin the important work of selecting a head of school who embraces our unique strengths, is committed to passionately pursuing the school’s mission, and has the strategic vision to prepare St. Martin’s and its students for the future.  The first step in this work is partnering with a search firm to guide us through this process.

Search Firm

The Board has been in active discussions with multiple education industry search firms to select the firm that is the best match for SMES.  Recognizing the significance of the process, the Board selected The Education Group (TEG).  We were impressed by TEG’s 32 years of experience in executive searches, its collective understanding of independent schools, and its commitment to helping us create a collaborative and inclusive search process. The team from TEG -- Laura Fuller, Linda Talton, and Allison Lorimer -- will assist the SMES Search Committee in selecting St. Martin’s next head of school.  You can read more about TEG and our consultants here.

Interim Head of School

Working with the TEG team, the first step of this process is determining whether to hire an interim head of school for the 2022-23 school year or attempt to find a permanent head.  Our discussions with search firms have made it clear that we must provide the timeframe needed to conduct a thoughtful and thorough search. At this point in the typical search process, many potential candidates for a July 2022 start will have already committed to other schools.

As such, we will work with TEG to identify and name an interim head in early 2022 for the 2022-2023 school year. The formal search process for a permanent head will begin this winter with the goal to have candidates on campus in early fall 2022.  Appointing an interim head allows St. Martin’s to have access to a full slate of candidates interested in the position, with the expectation for the new head to join SMES on July 1, 2023.  The recruitment of interim candidates has already begun in addition to planning for the formal search process to begin this winter.

Next Steps

Our next step is to finalize a Search Committee with the assistance of TEG.  The Search Committee will then begin the interview process of the interim candidates and craft a detailed plan for the formal search process.

We look forward to engaging with the entire community in the search process.  There will be opportunities to meet with our consultants to share feedback and opinions about the future leadership of St. Martin’s.  Be on the lookout for search announcements via email and the SMES website.  The Board is committed to keeping everyone informed throughout the process.

Sincerely,

Derek Porter                                Shara Sanders   

Chair, SMES Board of Trustees       Vice-Chair, SMES Board of Trustees

Michael Robinson

Interim Head of School

October 20, 2021

Dear St. Martin's community,

I am writing to share with you that Dr. Luis Ottley has informed me that this 2021-22 school year will be his final one as the Head of School of St. Martin's Episcopal School. My letter accompanies his announcement (below) to all of you.

I recall the excitement within the community when we hired Luis in 2017. The school was in somewhat of a crossroads because we were often described as a “hidden gem,” yet we knew there was an opportunity to be so much more.  With Luis, we found a strategic leader who brought a vision to identify and implement many initiatives which transformed the school to where we are today.

There are many milestones that have been achieved over the past five years, including the build-out of the award-winning Early Childhood building, the creation of the Kairos program and our expansion onto the Highpoint campus, which has allowed us to serve more families as well as have facilities for additional school and community events. More recently, the release of our Diversity & Inclusion Mission Statement helps guide us as we accomplish our mission to provide a quality education of the whole person in a loving Christian environment. Perhaps the greatest legacy that Luis leaves is the dedicated team of faculty and administration who perform the hard work every day of running the school and teaching our children.

The Board of Trustees will form a search committee that represents a strong blend of different perspectives, school faculty and administration, as well as St. Martin’s Episcopal Church leadership and parishioners. We will retain a search firm to perform a national search to find the best Head of School for our school.  SMES is the largest K-8 school in the National Association of Episcopal Schools (NAES), and we are confident that this opening will be considered a dream job for many qualified candidates. I am excited to get the message out and start the inspiring work.  We will keep the community updated on the search process.

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I want to thank Luis for his service to the school. We look forward to celebrating his many achievements over the rest of the school year. 

Sincerely,

Derek Porter,

Chair, SMES Board of Trustees

October 20, 2021

Dear St. Martin’s community,

It is with mixed emotions that I write to you to let you know that the 2021-22 school year will be my last year at St. Martin's. This marks my fifth year at the school, and I feel I have accomplished many of the goals set out for me when I joined the community in 2017. The time has come for me to move on to a different opportunity as Head of School at St. Paul Academy and Summit School, a K-12 school in St. Paul, Minn., for the 22-23 school year. For now, there is much work for me to finish here, and I look forward to continuing to lead St. Martin’s to complete this school year. 

Five years ago, I conducted a series of parent interviews, and families let me know a variety of priorities they desired for the school to undertake. At the top of the list was a wish for the school to serve a broader group of learners so that children with language-based learning differences could remain at SMES. Those deeply-held concerns led to the development of the Kairos Learning Center program. The KLC was established at an opportune time to fill a need within the community and establish St. Martin’s as a critical resource for serving students with learning differences in the Atlanta metro area. 

Over the past years, our community has met many challenges together, including the construction of a state-of-the-art Early Childhood building after the unfortunate arson fire in 2017. The new Claiborne Hall was designed and built at break-neck speed because of this community’s commitment to turn tragedy into opportunity. This new Early Childhood facility offers a unique STEAM-based learning experience for our youngest students to gain a solid 21st-century learning foundation. 

In addition, the school has literally weathered several external storms, ranging from ice storms and floods, both leading to power outages and school closures, to the current global pandemic. And through it all, you have steadfastly supported St. Martin’s. I am happy to report that five years later, the school is well-positioned to take on the next chapter of its history. Our enrollment is at an all-time high, with more than 700 students spanning eight weeks to 8th grade on two campuses and with the hope of developing a third endeavor on the Doraville property. The academic program has expanded to include Toddlers and Infants, and we now have the capability for our students to take online courses like Latin and Geometry for high school credit. All of this was unimaginable a few years ago.

On a personal note, this new endeavor brings an unexpected benefit that will move us geographically closer to family. This decision to leave is bittersweet because my wife, Carrie, and I have made life-long friends in this community who have touched and enriched our lives forever. And the teachers and staff at St. Martin’s have provided unparalleled love and support for our children Luisito and Paloma. As parents of students at the school, we quickly learned that our children’s loving experience wasn’t unique - it is truly what happens at St. Martin’s. 

Our family was excited to join this Episcopal school in Brookhaven because of its conviction and expressed commitment to the values of the Episcopal Church, and we will leave eager to follow its next chapter. We firmly believe that St. Martin’s will always be the premier preschool through 8th-grade school in Atlanta. It is a school grounded in the premise that childhood is the whole point. The community fully supports the important balance between a loving, nurturing environment and academic excellence.

And while the last few months have posed a different set of challenges for our family and our school community, the unprecedented support the school has received is inspiring. I am confident that SMES is on the right path toward living into its Episcopal values by providing an exceptional academic experience for young children and offering a welcoming environment where all voices can be heard.

As a seminarian in the diocese of Atlanta, I believe that God will continue to bless and watch over this community while holding us all accountable for living a life that values all in God's creation. Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. Psalm 37:5 (KJV)

There is still much work to be done this year, and my focus will remain on ensuring we complete what we have started. It's been a privilege to have served in this role, and I want to thank you for the many special memories. You leave an indelible mark.

With love, light and blessing always,

Luis