Darlington School has partnered with Tom Redmon and Marlene Shaw of Carney, Sandoe & Associates in its search for a new head of school after Tom Whitworth’s announcement of his impending retirement in June 2014.
“Carney, Sandoe & Associates has a history of partnering with schools like Darlington,” said Search Committee Chair Linda (Grizzard) Owens (’79), who is also vice chair of Darlington’s Board of Trustees. “They will bring definition and experience to the process, exposing Darlington to the best potential candidates thus ensuring that the individual we select will be the right choice to lead our school.”
Redmon, a senior search consultant, has served as president of the Southern Association of Independent Schools in Atlanta for the past 21 years. Previously, he worked for the College Board in Atlanta and New York between 1976 and 1984 as a director of the Admissions Testing Program and, later, as director of state and legislative services. During the two years prior to his becoming executive director of SAIS, he served the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), headquartered in Atlanta, as senior officer for educational policy research.
Redmon earned his bachelor’s degree at Duke University, a master’s degree in Theology from Boston University, an Ed.D. from the University of Georgia, and post-doctoral certification in Adult and Life Long Learning from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has written extensively on the issues of school governance and accreditation standards over the last decade.
He serves or has completed service on numerous boards as an officer or director, including the Council on Spiritual and Ethical Education, the Council for Advanced Study in International Education, the Georgia Society of Association Executives and the GSAE Foundation, The Galloway School in Atlanta, the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education, and Atlanta Rotary.
Shaw, a search consultant, is a former teacher and longtime school administrator who frequently gives presentations on leadership in independent schools. She spent 15 years as a head of school at Chatham Hall School in Chatham, Va., and St. Mary's Episcopal School, Memphis, Tenn., and 14 years as a middle school principal at Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, La., and Fort Worth Country Day School in Fort Worth, Texas. She began her career teaching English and math in Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia and, later, serving as a counselor at Tulane University’s Newcomb Women’s Center.
Shaw holds a B.S. in Secondary Education from Louisiana State University and an M.Ed. in Counselor Education from the University of New Orleans. She also attended the Harvard Counseling Institute and completed post-graduate work on financial stability, advancement and major gifts for independent schools. Additionally, Shaw is a National Board Certified Counselor and a member of several associations, including the Country Day School Headmasters’ Association; the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools; the Memphis Association of Independent Schools; the Virginia Association of Independent Schools; the National Association of Independent Schools; the Head Mistress Association of the East; the National Association of Principals of Schools for Girls; and the National Board of Directors of the Educational Records Bureau (of which she was vice president from 2009 to 2011). She was also named to Memphis Magazine’s “50 Women Who Make a Difference” in 2006.
“Marlene and I are delighted to be asked to serve as search counsel for this most important step in Darlington’s long history of great leadership. While Carney, Sandoe & Associates works with many different kinds and sizes of independent schools, I do believe that one of our great strengths is in working with schools with a history and reputation like Darlington’s,” Redmon said. “Next month, it will be our pleasure to have conversations with many members of the Darlington faculty and staff, administration, student body, and alumni base as we develop a strong statement of the school’s assets and needs that will attract some of the finest candidates nationally and internationally to this wonderful school.”
With the help of Redmon and Shaw, Owens and her committee hope to identify Whitworth’s successor by fall 2013 in order to ensure a seamless and effective transition. Members of Darlington’s Search Committee include Board Chairman Jere Drummond (’57), an ex-officio member, as well as current and former trustees Dick Cornwell (’67), Mary Helen (Wright) Heaner (’77), Bob Hortman (’72), John Irby (’81), Frank Stegall (’62), Rocky Tillery and John Ware.
“The Search Committee represents day and boarding alumni, parents of alumni, and parents of students,” Owens said. “I am thrilled to be working with such a talented and diverse group of individuals, each having a special love for Darlington.”
Founded in 1977, Carney, Sandoe & Associates is the nation’s leading firm specializing in the identification of exceptional leaders, teachers and top administrators for independent schools. Carney, Sandoe & Associates has completed more than 750 successful searches for school heads and other top administrators. To learn more about Carney, Sandoe & Associates, click here.
