Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Westtown School gets new leader
Victoria ‘Tori’ Jueds formally installed as head of school
WESTTOWN » Victoria “Tori” Jueds was formally installed Friday as Head of School at Westtown School.
On July 1, Jueds succeeded John Baird, who served as Head since 2002 at the Quaker college preparatory day and boarding school.
The Harvard College and Harvard Law school grad most recently worked as Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Students at Princeton University.
Jueds is especially excited to work again with pre-K through high school seniors at the school established in 1799.
“There is something incredibly powerful about the potential of kids who are of the age to attend Westtown,” Jueds said. “There is so much potential for them to develop not only intelligent minds but also intelligent hearts.
“This is an academically rigorous school with a global reach and a remarkable commitment to service and social justice — a place where young people develop strong, relevant, compassionate voices.”
Jueds was excited by the recent class work of 8-year-old “Westonian” third graders.
The students created 3-D cities that Jueds said “a lot of research went into.”
“What is it like to build a community?” the students were asked.
The cities were sustainable, with solar collectors on roofs and wind turbines.
The largest building was a homeless shelter for housing the “neediest,” she said.
Jueds was told by the third graders that “everybody needs a home.”
The house of worship was a square building with a remov-
“This is an academically rigorous school with a global reach and a remarkable commitment to service and social justice — a place where young people develop strong, relevant, compassionate voices.” — Victoria Jueds
able roof. A mosque, synagogue, Christian Church and Quaker Meeting House equally filled the space.
“They are all worshiping together under one roof,” Jueds said with pride. “That’s how Westtown teaches kids to think.”
Jueds was raised in New Jersey and London. She graduated as valedictorian from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1991. Jueds majored in history and literature at Harvard, where she graduated magna cum laude. She earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2001.
She clerked in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and then litigated cases implicating civil rights and civil liberties issues in New York and Washington, D.C.
For five summers she returned to Exeter where she taught philosophy and current events, while also serving as the dormitory head. She also taught at George Washington Law School.
Jueds is single and will be soon moving into an oncampus home.
Ed Winslow ’64 was clerk of the search committee.
“During the search process, we were struck not only by the extensive and enthusiastic feedback we received about Tori, but also by the extent which her qualities and attributes match what members of our school community were looking for in Westtown’s next head,” he said. “We believe Tori’s dynamic vision, strength and character, and forward-thinking leadership make her the ideal person to lead Westtown today.”
Jueds said she is looking for a “new challenge” as head of the 665 student and 221 staff Quaker school.
“I realized this is where I want to be,” she said.
Since arriving in July, Jueds has not made any major changes.
“I’m here to listen and learn,” she said.
Students with different backgrounds and opinions are learning how to communicate across differences.
“I don’t think it’s possible to read the news and be aware of what’s going on in the world, and not realize we need a different way to educate young people,” she said. “This school does that.
“These kids are learning the skills they need to make the world a better place — that’s not just words on paper, that is actually happening here every day.”
Jueds talked about students who started a discussion group during a Quaker meeting. The students wanted to discuss racism and to define implicit bias.
“These are great young people who are thinking deeply about how to make the world a better place, how to be compassionate and respectful.”