“My first impression of the school is that it was very deliberately designed from both the curriculum standpoint and physically, on campus,” Thomas Sturtevant, who in July started his new role as the Ross School’s head of school, said this week. “It’s thoughtful and innovative, so it’s an exciting place to work.”
Mr. Sturtevant joins Ross with a four-year agreement, with an option to extend it another four years. He takes over where Charles Abelmann left off after less than a year as interim head of school. Mr. Abelmann’s service to Ross took a controversial turn in May when students staged a walkout, upset with his leadership style and concerned that he would become its permanent chief administrator.
With Mr. Sturtevant’s appointment comes a fresh sense of excitement among the school’s board and administration. “Tom thinks about the whole experience and growth of each of our children as he begins to lead the school. We are thrilled for the direction he will lead us as Ross enters a new phase of growth,” Emily Tisch Sussman, a board member and parent of two Ross students, said in a statement last week.
Mr. Sturtevant comes to Ross after seven years as the executive director of the LION Academy (Leaders in Our Neighborhood), formerly known as the Hyde Leadership Charter School, in the Bronx — one of the city’s largest charter schools with more than 1,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Before that, he was involved with a startup school in China and three private schools in the Northeastern U.S., including Friends Academy in Wheatley Heights here on Long Island.
Education is a priority for Mr. Sturtevant and his family. He has an undergraduate degree from Tufts University and a master’s degree from Stanford University. His wife, Dianna Raedle, studied at Princeton and Harvard and runs an investment bank with a technology angle. They have three children, who are also scholars: Richard is a senior at Yale, Lizzie is preparing to enter the medical field, and Margaret is studying law at the University of Pennsylvania.
“Any new leader comes in and tries to scan the landscape. I still have more to understand about Ross,” Mr. Sturtevant said, when asked what areas he thinks Ross excels at and what areas need some work.
“The elementary school experience on the Butter Lane campus is magical,” he said. “The students experience the quality of the teaching, the programs they study, partnerships with local organizations, the individual attention that students get. You can study violin and build a garden and have a library and be involved in a campus that’s all built to scale for young people.”
But, he said, there’s “room for improvement” in the high school boarding program. “It adds a lot to the school. It’s a good choice to have students from all over the world participating. I think the students have a pretty sophisticated understanding of their place in the world — there’s nothing like having friends and other students around you who are coming from other places in the world. It’s a culturally complicated and interesting community, but I think there’s an opportunity for us to leverage that even further.”
Mr. Sturtevant said he admires Ross’s “combination of engagement and rigor and relevance.”
“We see ourselves as a community leader and the opportunity is for me to ensure this resource, this incredible institution, can take that place among the other incredible institutions, people, and organizations out here.”