Shady Side Academy graduate to become private school’s next president in July 2019

A Shady Side Academy alumnus will become the school’s next president, effective July 1, 2019.

Bartley P. “Bart” Griffith Jr., a 1993 Shady Side graduate, currently is assistant head of the Gilman School, a private K-12 school in Baltimore.

Amy Nixon is serving as interim president at Shady Side this year, after Tom Cangiano finished his eightyear term leading the school in July.

“I am excited to be returning home to the Shady Side community at this particular moment, with all the possibilities it presents,” Mr. Griffith, a Fox Chapel native, said in a news release. “The opportunity to help steer my alma mater into its promising future is not only a tremendous honor and responsibility, but it’s also a dream come true.”

Shady Side Academy was founded in 1883. It offers pre-kindergarten through 12th grade and enrolls more than 1,000 students across four age-specific campuses.

Mr. Griffith has served as assistant head of the Gilman School since 2015. His previous positions include a variety of roles in 15 years at Westminster School, a private school in Atlanta, and designing and leading an urban design fellowship that challenged students to reflect on land use in urban settings.

“Bart was the leading candidate at every stage of the presidential search process,” Jonathan Kamin, chair of Shady Side’s board of trustees, said in a news release. “We were impressed by his thoughtfulness, integrity, track record of innovation, ability to answer tough questions, and, most of all, by his heart.”

Mr. Griffith attended Bucknell University and earned master’s degrees in teaching of English from Columbia University and in English from Middlebury College.

While at Shady Side, he was varsity football captain, served as an editor of the Shady Side News, and received the President’s Prize.