Harley Announces Head

11/5/2012
We are greatly pleased to announce that the Harley Board of Trustees has unanimously accepted the recommendation of the Head of School Search Committee to appoint Ward Ghory, Ed.D. as The Harley School’s thirteenth Head of School. Mr. Ghory has accepted, and we will enthusiastically welcome him and his wife, Anne Ghory-Goodman, to the Harley community on July 1, 2013.

Mr. Ghory brings to Harley a national reputation as a distinguished educator. He served as Head of School at the University School of Milwaukee, in Wisconsin, from 2000-2011. There he led the school through two collaboratively developed strategic plans, remodeling 80 percent of the campus through a successful $44 million campaign for endowment and facilities. Mr. Ghory’s impressive experience also includes a dozen years as Director of the Upper School at Buckingham Browne & Nichols School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Additionally, he spent 13 years in the Cincinnati Public Schools as a high school teacher, founder of a desegregation magnet alternative school, and the assistant principal for curriculum and instruction of a college preparatory high school.

Known for an inclusive approach, Mr. Ghory told the faculty, staff, and Board, “What attracted me to Harley was your commitment to “joy in learning” and your dedication to helping children “become what thou art.” I hope to learn to see and appreciate both the strengths and foibles of your school through your eyes. In time we will create a common vision of direction for Harley, make a plan for priorities to improve, and organize to rally the School’s constituencies to support our push to the next level. I can’t wait to come to Rochester and begin this work.”

Following undergraduate work at Yale University, Mr. Ghory earned an M.A. and Ed.D. in curriculum studies from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has published widely on curriculum and teaching, and has presented at many national conferences. He comes to The Harley School after taking a sabbatical year at the couple’s Cape Cod home where he and his wife focused on writing and photography projects.

Mr. Ghory and his wife have three grown children working in New York City. An Emerita Professor of Communications Design at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Ms. Ghory-Goodman will be exploring professional opportunities in design and photography in the Rochester area.  

The Harley Board of Trustees contracted the nationally recognized firm, Wickenden Associates, to conduct the search for the Head of School. During his visit to Harley, Mr. Ghory met with approximately 215 constituents. His extensive experience and evident desire to continue Harley’s commitment to excellence were noted by many. We look forward to welcoming him as the new leader of Harley.

We would like to thank the members of the Search Committee (Kay Benjamin, Doug Gilbert ’87, Bill Lloyd, Bob Moore, Michael Paddock, Richard Thorley, Kitty VanBortel, and Helen Wiley) for their generous commitment of time and their careful dedication to recommending the next Head of The Harley School. We would also like to thank the many faculty, staff, parents, alumni and friends who took the time to meet our finalists and complete the survey. Your feedback was invaluable to the process, and we are grateful for your participation in making this a successful search.

Valerie Myntti will continue to lead Harley as Interim Head of School. We cannot thank her enough for her expertise and leadership during this transition time.

We will continue to update the Head of School Web site with new information: http://sites.harleyschool.org/search. Again, we thank you all for your care, time, attention, and continued confidence as we complete our Head Search.

Sincerely,

Peter Willsea ’72 and Mark Zupan
Co-Chairs, Head of School Search Committee