Interim leader hired to serve at New School

FAYETTEVILLE — The New School has hired Susan Groesbeck to serve as interim head of school starting this summer.

Groesbeck is the interim head of school at Stratford Hall in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has spent more than 40 years as an educator and administrator across North America. She held interim leadership roles at private schools in Tennessee, New Jersey and New York, according to Edward Prewitt, chairman of the New School’s board.

“The role of interim head is nuanced and complex, requiring tremendous commitment over a short term to ensure progress continues under the interim’s tenure,” Prewitt wrote in a letter this week to New School families. “Recruiting for this role can be a challenge, and so the board is delighted to have found Dr. Groesbeck — a school leader to whom this role is familiar.”

Groesbeck earned her doctorate from the University of Rochester in New York. Before taking on interim roles, she was principal of Havergal College in Toronto, head of school at Hilton Head Preparatory School in South Carolina and headmaster at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School in Atlanta.

The New School, a private school opened in 1971, serves more than 400 children in preschool through grade 10. Dennis Chapman, the current and third head of school, announced in the fall he accepted a position with another private school in Florida. He is remaining with the New School through the end of this school year.

The timing of Chapman’s announcement meant the New School board missed the normal hiring period for private school leaders, which is why the school is hiring an interim head, Prewitt said.

A long-term replacement for Chapman will be hired by October and start during the summer of 2019, he said.