Head of School Search

The Meadows School announced in January 2022 that current Head of School Jeremy Gregeresen would be moving on in June of 2023 to pursue other opportunities and that the Board of Trustees was beginning a search for the next great Head of School. TMS plans to partner with an industry-leading search firm to fill this important position with the goal of hiring a new head in late 2022 so that Mr. Gregersen can onboard the school’s new leader throughout the second half of the 2022-23 school year.

Latest Communications

3/17: Head of School Search Position Statement

Dear Meadows Community,

Thank you for participating in the discovery phase of our Head of School search. Your survey responses, in combination with the in-person meetings conducted by our search firm in February with the Board of Trustees, Mr. Gregersen, administrators, faculty, and the TMSPA, have helped RG175 and our Search Committee to craft the HOS Position Statement. This document serves as an important recruitment tool to help us attract the best candidates to TMS.

Our consultants have shared that the initial response to this Position Statement, published throughout their various networks, has been “very strong” and that it has been well received based on their prior experience helping place Heads at other leading institutions. This is very good news for us as we look to define the next era at TMS.

RG175 and our Search Committee look forward to the next phase of the recruitment process that will take place in late May—right on schedule. This is when all of our potential candidates will complete their detailed, multi-part applications, which RG175 refers to as the applicant dossiers, for our Search Committee's review.

Thank You,
Matthew Chilton
Board Chair

2/15: HOS Search Survey

Dear Meadows Community,

As you know, we have begun our search for the next outstanding Head of School for our institution. We are currently in the discovery phase of this process and need community members like you to provide valuable feedback that will help to shape what we are looking for in an ideal candidate.

Our consulting firm, RG175, has put together a comprehensive survey to gather this information, and we are asking you to please complete this short form by 5 p.m. on Sunday, February 20. All responses will be sent directly to RG 175 and kept anonymous.

Thank you for your help and participation!

The Meadows Board of Trustees

2/4: Search Firm Selection Announcement

Dear Meadows Community,

Early in January, we shared the news of Mr. Gregersen’s decision to look for new opportunities outside of The Meadows School at the end of the 2022-23 school year. Since that announcement, the Board of Trustees and I have been busy setting our plan into motion to find the next outstanding Head of School to take us into a new era here at TMS, and we are excited to provide you with an update on our latest milestone.

Recently, the Board of Trustees held their annual retreat where we welcomed three industry-leading search firms to pitch us on being our partner in our Head of School search. By unanimous decision, we have selected Resource Group 175 (RG175).

RG175 consists of 18 highly successful, long-serving former heads of school and senior administrators. Our search will specifically be led by Debbie Reed and Tom Hudnut, both of whom have extensive experience, reach, and expertise in placing best-fit candidates in long-standing headships. RG175 will be visiting campus later this month to begin the discovery phase where they will begin to engage with various Meadows stakeholders for insights into our school and its culture. After this meeting, we will announce to you the members of the Board of Trustees Search Committee that will continue to spearhead this search into the next phase, as well as welcome volunteers from our faculty, staff, and parent constituencies to join our other related committees.

Rest assured, the Board and I are taking this search very seriously and are pleased with where we are in the hiring process thus far. We are also grateful for the generous lead time Mr. Gregersen has given us to complete this search as it provides us with a great deal of flexibility. Not only will we be able to dedicate the time we need to clearly define the needs of our community for this important position upfront, but we will also have the added benefit of incorporating time for a smooth leadership transition once the ideal candidate has been selected. This long-tailed timeline has proven effective for other schools in their Head of School search and will provide us with the stability we need to truly be successful.

Thank you for your support!
Matthew Chilton
Board Chair

1/11: Departure Announcement from Mr. Gregersen

Dear Meadows Family,

When Liz and I arrived in Las Vegas in the summer of 2005, we assumed we would only be spending a couple of years here. I was excited to start teaching at The Meadows, and my biggest worry was about taking on my first middle school teaching role. At that moment, we had no idea what the future held, or the hold The Meadows School would have on our lives for the 15 years and more to come.

Now, after having had the opportunity to teach grades 6-12, to serve as Department Chair, Academic Dean, Division Director, Assistant Head, and finally as Head of School for the past 8 years, I am writing this letter to inform you that next year, the 2022-23 school year, will be our last at The Meadows School. Like so many people worldwide during the pandemic, I have spent a good deal of time rethinking my position, goals, and my future both personally and professionally. Liz and I have discussed where we are as a family, as well, and we feel that it is the right time for new challenges and new opportunities. It was important to me to provide the school with 18 months’ notice to ensure as smooth a transition as possible, and I will support the process in whatever way I can. While we are not certain where we will land in the fall of 2023, we are confident and excited about the many opportunities opening up before us.

Even as I contemplate departing, I am incredibly proud of everything we have accomplished together in the last 8 years. In addition to being national leaders in reopening our school in the midst of a pandemic whose long-term effects we still cannot fully know, we have made real progress in developing programs and building infrastructure that will make a lasting difference in the educational experiences of the students in our care. Indeed, the next decade will be a pivotal time for independent schools. As we look at what students will need to be successful, both in college and beyond, it is clear that schools like TMS will continue to play a central role in shaping future leaders who can respond to crises like global pandemics, climate change, and other seemingly intractable problems. I am confident in The Meadows School’s ability to continue to shape the lives of young people, and the school’s future is as bright as the future that will undoubtedly be built by its graduates.

On a personal note, I would like to thank The Board of Trustees and the entire Meadows faculty, staff, alumni, and parent community for the experience my family and I have had. The Meadows has truly been a home for us. My older son has thrived in every classroom he’s been fortunate to attend. The school has provided us with friends and colleagues, a social center, and a community that has made our time in Las Vegas a true pleasure. And while our eventual departure will be bittersweet, we are certainly better for our time here and will make good use of all the support and experiences we have gained as we look forward to the next chapter in our journey as a family.

I look forward to serving the school in the final 18 months of my tenure and doing everything in my power to aid in a smooth transition of leadership.

In gratitude,
Jeremy Gregersen
Head of School

1/11: HOS Search Announcement from the Board Chair

Dear Meadows Community,

I wanted to extend my warmest new year’s wishes and hope that 2022 is treating you and your family well. I am pleased that in the face of an ever-changing environment, our campus has been vibrant with student activity and that we have been able to remain open to in-person learning full time. As we move toward the second half of the school year, we will continue to adapt to changes and new situations.

As a part of these changes, the Board of Trustees has received Jeremy Gregersen's resignation, effective at the end of the next school year in June of 2023, as Head of The Meadows School. Please join me in congratulating him on what will be his successful 17 years of service and 9 years of headship, and in wishing him and his family all the best as we move forward, preparing for the next chapter for The Meadows School.

As we prepare to say goodbye to Mr. Gregersen, we also have a responsibility and an exciting opportunity to find the next strong leader of TMS. Since we have roughly 18 months remaining, the board looks forward to using that time wisely to seek out our new Head of School. I have already contacted three industry-leading search firms and the board will choose the best firm for our school’s unique leadership needs following our board of trustees retreat on January 28th. Once the appropriate search firm is identified and retained, a specific timeline for our search is decided, and a search committee is established, we will communicate more of this information to our community.

As I have been reflecting on Mr. Gregersen’s time at The Meadows School, I have thought a lot about the growth the school has seen over the last 8 years. Jeremy was named Head of School as an internal candidate, taking on his first headship, and he had the opportunity to grow alongside our relatively young school. In his time at TMS, Jeremy has done just that, working closely with the board to accomplish some remarkable achievements. We adopted unique, forward-thinking health and safety protocols, which allowed us to keep our campus largely open during the pandemic. We established a strategic planning process, adopting two strategic plans, and we navigated and launched a full rebranding of the school. We have renovated the Lower School playground, expanded the Beginning School, and in the fall of 2022 will open the first expansion to Lower, Middle, and Upper School academic learning spaces in over 16 years. We have expanded our enrollment quickly, from 829 students in 2018 to over 930 projected in 2022. This includes adding a full-day option in Beginning School and succeeding in filling our Upper School. We’ve expanded elective offerings and developed new traditions while adhering to the old. Finally, we have attracted an extraordinary leadership team, recruiting the best-in-class athletics, arts, Lower School, finance, innovation, and advancement professionals available. All this leaves the board at large confident that The Meadows School’s future is exceptionally bright.

Please join me and the Board of Trustees in thanking Jeremy, Liz, and their children Jack and Billy, for their countless contributions to our community.

We look forward to the next steps for The Meadows School.

Sincerely,
Matthew Chilton '92
Board Chair

Search Timeline

DATE	MILESTONE
	January 2022	BOT Select search firm
February-March 2022	Discovery phase Position statement
March-May 2022	Recruitment
June 2022	Dossier reviews Semi-finalist interviews
August-September 2022	Finalist visits Head selection
October 2022-June 2023	Transition period
July 2023-June 2024	Mentoring period

The Search Team

About RG175

The Meadows Board of Trustees has partnered with Resource Group 175 (RG175), a global educational leadership firm, to guide our search for our next Head of School. RG175 consultants are experienced in identifying candidates whose skills and educational vision align with a school’s unique strengths and goals. The firm consists of eighteen highly successful, long-serving former heads of school and senior administrators, who continue to be leaders in the independent school world. RG175 consultants Debbie Reed and Tom Hudnut will work directly with our TMS Search Committee.

HOS Position Statement

BOT Search Committee

Harmony Letizia '00
Joanna Falb
Joshua Ford
Matthew Becker
Matthew Chilton '92
Sharlin Ahmed-Khan
Stacie Michaels '98

School Mission

In its pursuit of excellence, The Meadows School inspires ambitious students to love and respect higher learning, to passionately serve their communities, and to lead meaningful lives as citizens of a global society.