Woodland School

Portola Valley, californiachief financial officer

July 2016woodland-school.org

the PoSitionWoodland School, a small PS through eighth grade independent school located in the beautiful hills of Portola Valley just west of Stanford University, is seeking a Chief Financial Officer/Business Manager to conduct the school’s financial management and planning. Rooted in the philosophy of a well-balanced education, Woodland offers strong academic, arts, and character education programs in an inclusive and diverse community. The school’s spacious campus and its unique but successful blend of academic rigor and terrific whole-child development make Woodland a place that current parents and students absolutely love—as do the stellar faculty and staff who sustain the culture and deliver the results every day.

The CFO reports directly to the Head of School and is responsible for all financial functions and activities including accounting, budget, record keeping, human resources, insurance, tax, audit, and physical plant oversight. An accountant and a facilities manager report to the CFO. The CFO also provides support to the Board of Directors on issues pertaining to the financial operation and strategic planning for the school. The successful candidate will demonstrate a high level of integrity as well as

excellent communication, administrative, and interpersonal skills.

the SchoolWoodland is committed to bringing out the best in each child. The school’s dual focus on rigorous academics and character education produces students who are strong critical thinkers and communicators, creative collaborators, and respectful young people of integrity who care about their community. Parents are actively supportive and intimately involved in a partnership in the school, and they are closely connected to the faculty members who embody academic excellence, community, and character building. Teachers at Woodland are themselves lifelong learners, and they constantly search for ways to improve their practice. The academic program at the school is thus nimble and dynamic, offering an education that is at once challenging and supportive.

head of School

In October of 2015, Woodland’s Board of Trustees unanimously appointed its next Head of School, Marja Brandon, who will begin in July of 2016. Currently the Head of School at The Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, Ms. Brandon’s career in private and public education spans 30 years. In 2000, she founded the Seattle

1The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates search@carneysandoe.com | www.carneysandoe.com

Woodland School is committed to bringing out the best in each child through a nurturing of both intellect and character. Rigorous academics, individualized attention, and the core values of caring, respect, and community combine to develop each child’s lifelong love of learning, innovation, and leadership.

Fast Facts

• Students: 268• Faculty members: 34• Faculty with advanced degrees: 50%• Annual operating budget: $7.2 million• Students receiving financial aid: 18%

Mission

2The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates search@carneysandoe.com | www.carneysandoe.com

Girls School and is a nationally-recognized visionary in the area of educational system improvement, reform, and innovation. Ms. Brandon holds a B.A. in Psychology and Studio Art from Wellesley College and an M.Ed. from Harvard University. She was also a Klingenstein Research Fellow at Columbia University Teachers’ College.

academicS

The curriculum at Woodland is both broad and deep, challenging students to expand their thinking as it reinforces the school’s core values of caring, respect, and community. Teachers apply best practices through collaboration, evidence-based decision making, and continued professional development, and they create a school environment that is as supportive and nurturing as it is challenging. Students are well-prepared for success after Woodland, and they enroll at top high schools in the area.

Design Thinking and technology are core elements of the academic program. This 21st century approach to education unlocks students’ creativity through hands-on projects. Students are empowered with the skills and mindset to achieve success across all areas of their lives as they “learn how to think” and become more resourceful, experimental, collaborative, and empathetic.

Visual and performing arts enhance the core curriculum at Woodland, and students work with specialists each week in both visual arts and music, culminating in an annual art show and musical. By focusing on a different artist each month, students gain a broad range of exposure and inspiration for their own artwork. Weekly music classes introduce theory, history, and instrumental application. All students participate in school-wide music, poetry, and drama performances.

3The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates search@carneysandoe.com | www.carneysandoe.com

Students complete their years at Woodland with a Capstone Project in the eighth grade. This year-long intensive research project allows students to identify a problem of local and global significance to address, which is related to the five pillars of human rights. Students research, conduct expert interviews, and write an extensive research paper on the problem and potential ways to address it. They are then tasked with applying design thinking principles to develop an action piece that moves their idea forward, which they then implement locally or globally. The project culminates with students’ presenting the highlights of their work to the Woodland community. Past projects have focused on immigration, agriculture, and environmentalism.

Student life

Character education and social-emotional learning permeate every aspect of the school, both in and outside the classroom. A group of faculty members are trained in leadership instruction through the Gardner Carney Leadership Institute, where they learn to teach every student how to lead. At Woodland, teachers work to find the leader in each student, and students have various opportunities to pursue and hone their leadership skills—through student council or the buddy mentor program, for example—and become the best versions of themselves.

The school’s Core Virtues Program teaches values such as service, joy, gratitude, hope, generosity, and perseverance. Two virtues are introduced per month, and students focus on them all month long, keeping character education constantly front of mind.

Woodland’s House System, which divides students into four houses—Oak, Pine, Maple, and Cypress—fosters camaraderie and encourages collaboration across all grade levels toward a common goal. Each House selects philanthropic projects and cooperates to achieve the greatest common good, reinforcing principles of both teamwork and service.

Students further develop their character and embrace school spirit through the athletics program, which offers various opportunities for students to become engaged in team sports. Sports include basketball, soccer, volleyball, cross-country, swimming, and flag football. In Woodland’s vibrant after school program, students can play outdoors, do homework together, or join Mathletes, Sciletes, Jump Bunch, or dance class, among other activities. Each aspect of Woodland’s program contributes to its overall vibrant culture marked by exuberance and integrity.

4The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates search@carneysandoe.com | www.carneysandoe.com

PhySical camPuS

Woodland’s 10-acre campus near Menlo Park in the San Francisco Bay Area is characterized by various lower and middle school buildings and classrooms interspersed with play structures, gardens, and outdoor tables and benches. The school completed construction of a new gym in 2014, and its facilities are well-matched to its exciting and inspiring program.

Portola Valley, californiaAn affluent town in San Mateo County, Portola Valley was named for Spanish Explorer Gaspar de Portola, who led the first expedition of European explorers to the San Francisco Peninsula in 1769. The town is located on the edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains and features two preserves: the Windy Hill Open Space Preserve to the southwest and the Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve to the north. The town is just southwest of Menlo Park.

Bordered by San Francisco Bay, Palo Alto, and Stanford University, Menlo Park is one of the most educated cities in the state of California—and indeed in the entire United States. Nearly 70% of the city’s residents hold advanced degrees, and the collective commitment to education permeates the area.

Incorporated in 1874, Menlo Park continues to be a booming, intellectual city today and is part of Silicon Valley, the world’s most important hub for new start-ups, with booming industries ranging from social media, technology, biotech, payments, venture capital, and start-ups across all industries. The area includes headquarters of exciting companies such as Facebook, Google, Apple, HP, Oracle, Genentech, and many other newer businesses—this is the home of entrepreneurship.

The San Francisco Bay Area enjoys a Mediterranean climate, with mild winters and dry summers. Residents enjoy the amenities of the whole Bay Area, which provides cultural and recreational activities for everyone. The area is a hotspot for sailors, surfers, and lovers of the outdoors and is punctuated by many parks and protected redwood forests. The area has some of the best performing arts institutions in the country and is home to a variety of museums, several top professional and collegiate sports teams, and is within short driving distance to many of the top wine regions of the United States. Residents and visitors can explore attractions as diverse as the Golden Gate Bridge to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Both indoors and outdoors, residents will find plenty to do.

5The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates search@carneysandoe.com | www.carneysandoe.com

challengeS and reSPonSibilitieSThe new CFO will report to Head of School-elect Marja Brandon and serve on the school’s senior administrative team. S/he will be a key partner with the Head of School and Board members and direct all financial and operational functions at Woodland. Toward that end, the successful candidate will be a strategic and critical business thinker who can breed immediate trust and confidence among his or her colleagues, Board members, and current parents.

The CFO will oversee an operating budget in excess of $7 million and oversee the work of the school Accountant and the Director of Facilities. S/he will also staff the Audit, Finance, and Facilities committees of the Board of Trustees. Initially, the new CFO must work hard to establish good working relationships with the new Head, senior administrators, and Board members in preparation for the 2016-17 academic year. Over the summer, the school will be installing five modular classrooms that will help house the growing Middle School. In addition, the school will be transitioning to a new administrative software program, Senior Systems, and the Business Office will be making that transition from QuickBooks. The school’s enrollment picture is robust, particularly in the upper grades, consistent with national trends. The new CFO will work diligently with the Directors of Admission and Communications to ensure maximum enrollment in the lower grades going forward. Finally, the successful candidate will help the school restructure debt taken on recently to help finance its new gymnasium

The successful candidate will have demonstrated successful managerial leadership, experience in a broad range of financial matters, and experience in project development and management. Further, s/he will have an affection for a school environment and the ability to communicate effectively and interface easily with all constituencies both inside and outside of the school.

core reSPonSibilitieS

In addition to embracing the mission of the school, supporting its Head and leadership, and representing the school at professional and public forums, the new CFO has a number of primary responsibilities:

• Oversee the development, administration, and reporting of the operating and long-term budget to the school’s Board of Trustees; Finance Committee; auditors; federal, state, and local authorities; lenders; donors; and various school administrative offices.

• Oversee all school operations including personnel, maintenance, summer camp, extended care, campus security, neighborhood relations, etc.

• Build and/or maintain the school’s short- and long-term strategic financial models.• Serve as chief staff liaison to the Audit, Finance, and Facilities committees of the Board of Trustees,

working closely with committee chairs and organizing agendas and meeting materials.

6The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates search@carneysandoe.com | www.carneysandoe.com

• Collaborate with the school’s counsel and insurance agents regarding all legal and risk management matters.• Ensure that the school is in compliance with all local, state, and federal reporting requirements.• Oversee the physical plant, grounds, and construction functions with the Director of Facilities; help plan

and direct all replacements and renewals of the physical plant.• Publically represent the school in a positive and proactive way, collaborating with other school administrators,

neighbors, and local officials. • Collaborate with the Head of School and other administrators to provide sound and consistent employment

policies for hiring, management and termination, adequate staffing levels, compensation, and appropriate benefits programs.

• Help implement and administer all employee benefit programs including health insurance, retirement, worker’s compensation, life insurance, and other related plans.

• Oversee the annual financial and 401(k) plan audits and filings of tax returns.• Serve as a member of the Financial Aid Committee.• Provide transparent financial reporting and planning that builds trust among administrators, faculty and

staff, parents, and trustees.

deSired exPerience and characteriSticS• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA and/or CPA preferred• 10-plus years of financial and business leadership• Experience on senior administrative teams and working with non-profit Boards• Experience working in an educational setting or another non-profit organization

PerSonal characteriSticS

• Child-oriented and committed to education• Ability to understand and embrace the mission of the school• Strategic thinker who sees the larger picture • Ability to balance and prioritize the needs of the school• Ability to manage and mentor staff• A good listener• A strong team player • Empathetic, open, and warm• Fair but demanding; a willingness to say “no”• Community-minded• Versatile and flexible• Superb people skills• Process-oriented• Discreet • Committed to diversity and inclusion practices• Excellent communications skills

Compensation package will be highly competitive and commensurate with experience.

to aPPlyInterested and qualified candidates should submit the following materials electronically as separate PDF files:• cover letter expressing interest in the Woodland School position • current résumé• statement of educational philosophy• list of five professional references with phone numbers and email addresses

John clark | greg britton

Senior Search Consultantsjohn.clark@carneysandoe.com | greg.britton@carneysandoe.com

carney, Sandoe & aSSociateS

44 Bromfield Street, Boston, MA 02108www.carneysandoe.com

The Search Group | Carney, Sandoe & Associates 7 search@carneysandoe.com | www.carneysandoe.com