Head of School Transition

Dear Marymount Community,

Last year, the Board of Trustees began the process to select a new Head of School. In partnership with our community, we have undertaken this work with great care and dedication to identify a leader who will build upon Mrs. Alvar’s extraordinary leadership, dedication, and achievements and carry forward the vision and values of our beloved school. Therefore, with great respect for Marymount, we are thrilled to announce that the Board of Trustees voted unanimously in support of Lorraine Riley to be appointed the next Head of School, effective July 1, 2025. 

What a testament to Marymount that, after an extensive and highly competitive international search, one of our very own rose to the top. Ms. Riley is a Marymount alumna, a Butler Scholar, an administrator, and a parent who cares deeply for our school and understands first-hand how special our community is. She will continue to lead with the warmth familiar to the Marymount community, while also ensuring our curriculum remains relevant and rigorous as we confidently look toward our bright future.

Lorraine Riley

While many of you may know Ms. Riley in her current role as Director of Admissions, fellow parent, and proud alumna, she brings deep pedagogical experience to this role, grounded in her Marymount education. Twenty-four years ago, Ms. Riley entered our school in Class IX through the Butler Scholarship program, and then went on to graduate from Georgetown University, magna cum laude, becoming the first person in her family to complete college. She also earned a master’s degree in Educational Leadership from Columbia University. Recognizing the transformational impact of education firsthand, Ms. Riley found her calling in education and has dedicated her life to ensuring other students would have similar opportunities. 

Ms. Riley started her career at Teach for America to improve educational equity in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. After years of serving as an ELA Middle School Teacher and Literacy/ELA Curriculum Coordinator, she went on to lead the academic program in the KIPP Charter Network in New Orleans, a charter network of nine schools, spanning K-12. As Director of Curriculum and Instruction, she strategized, designed, and scaled network-wide structures and systems to establish academic excellence, resulting in unprecedented performance improvement within its schools across all grade levels. In 2016, Ms. Riley returned home to Marymount as a member of the senior leadership team. She has held roles of increasing responsibility beginning in development, ultimately serving as Director of Development until being named Director of Admissions in 2022. Ms. Riley will be an incredible role model for our daughters as they continue to question, risk, and grow into young women prepared to challenge, shape, and change the world.

In accepting this appointment, Ms. Riley said:
Marymount is my home, its community is my family, this work is my calling. As the second lay head in Marymount’s storied history, it is the honor of my life to uphold and protect the mission and vision of the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary. I am proud to continue the intrepid legacies of Mother Butler, Sr. Kathleen Fagan, and Concepcion Alvar, who have modeled bold and compassionate leadership for the last century. I have been fundamentally shaped by their innovative spirit, strong work ethic, and unwavering love for our community. I am looking forward to partnering with the Board of Trustees, students, parents, alumnae, faculty, and staff and lead Marymount into our next one hundred years.

Search Process

Ms. Riley's appointment is the culmination of a comprehensive, year-long search process. Thank you to our entire Marymount community for being so generous with your time and input since the search began. Your active participation was essential to this thorough, thoughtful, and inclusive approach.

Last fall, the Board formed a dedicated Search Committee and engaged the international search firm Carney, Sandoe & Associates to lead us through the recruitment process. Our first step was gathering feedback from the Marymount community to understand the qualities they most value in our school. Using this input, the Search Committee created the Marymount Head of School position description that helped guide the process.

We were impressed with the breadth and depth of the initial applicants, which included hundreds of experienced educators from around the world. To begin, Carney Sandoe connected with nearly 200 interested professionals and, using the position description as a guide, more closely vetted nearly 50 candidates to narrow the applicants to 15 highly qualified educators. The Search Committee then reviewed comprehensive dossiers and met with eight candidates through one-on-one interviews to ultimately narrow the pool to the four finalists who visited Marymount in April. The Search Committee then met, deliberated, and overwhelmingly decided to recommend Ms. Riley to the Board of Trustees, who in turn, unanimously voted in support of her appointment as the next Head of School. 

Mrs. Alvar will continue as Head of School for the 2024-2025 academic year and will serve as an invaluable mentor to Ms. Riley. The Board of Trustees will create a Transition Team to support Ms. Riley, as well as organize various celebratory events in recognition of Mrs. Alvar. Please stay tuned.

Thank you for your dedication throughout this search process. We also want to thank the Board of Trustees for their unwavering commitment to our school and the Search Committee for their hard work and clear vision for the future. Marymount has a strong reputation for academic excellence grounded in our pursuit of the RSHM mission “that all may have life and live it to the full,” and our families, alumnae, faculty, administrators, and students make our school a place that is like no other. We look forward to Ms. Riley's stewardship as she leads our beloved school into its next chapter.

Sincerely,

Cindy Wagner P’26, Chair of the Board of Trustees
Paula Arrojo P’28, Trustee, Search Co-Chair
Melissa Phelan Roessler ’85, P’17, Trustee, Search Co-Chair

Dear Marymount Community,

The Search Committee is committed to finding an extraordinary Head of School who will lead our school into an exciting and successful future. Your partnership in this process to date has been invaluable, and we want to share important updates with you as we enter the next phase of work, and once again ask for your support.

The Board of Trustees appointed a dedicated Search Committee comprised of trustees, faculty, and administrators that has been executing a comprehensive, intentional, and thorough search process. In November, our community came together to identify the themes that are most important in our next Head of School, which have guided the search. Talented educators from all over the world expressed their interest in this role, which is a reflection of Marymount’s strong reputation and the unique opportunity to carry forward the vision and values of our beloved school.

As a first step, the Carney, Sandoe & Associates team vetted hundreds of interested candidates. Following this initial screening, the Search Committee reviewed comprehensive dossiers and conducted one-on-one interviews with an impressive pool of preliminary and semi-finalist candidates. During these discussions, candidates consistently referenced Marymount’s unique position as a school with a strong reputation for academic rigor grounded in a Catholic, authentic, and values-centered spirit.

Now that the exploration and evaluation phase is complete, we have identified four highly talented finalist candidates who clearly demonstrate the exemplary professional qualifications, strong leadership skills, and alignment with Marymount’s mission that our community expects. Each candidate will be visiting Marymount in April to get a firsthand sense of our school through meetings with Marymount administrators, faculty, students, parents, alumnae, and trustees. Visit dates are below:

• Candidate #1: April 11, 12

• Candidate #2: April 15, 16

• Candidate #3: April 23, 24

• Candidate #4: April 29, 30

Members of the Marymount community will receive an email prior to each visit that will include information about each candidate and details of their visit. On the second day of each visit, you are invited to meet the candidate, either via a virtual Zoom session at 8:15 a.m. ET or at an in-person session at our Upper Campus at 9:30 a.m. You are invited and encouraged to share input via a survey that will be shared following each session.

The Search Committee remains grounded in our boundless love and respect for Marymount, as well as infinite ambition and tremendous excitement for what our future holds. Thank you again for your partnership in this important process. We will continue to keep you informed.

Sincerely,

Paula Arrojo P’28, Search Co-Chair

Melissa Phelan Roessler ’85 P’17, Search Co-Chair

Dear Marymount Community,

As Mrs. Alvar so eloquently shared recently, gratitude comes from a place of faith, humility and grace – from the ability to look outside ourselves and recognize that we could not do it all alone. In this spirit, we want to sincerely thank our Marymount community for being so generous with their time and invaluable insight as the process of identifying our next Head of School gets underway. We appreciate the way you came together to discuss what is most important as we work to identify a leader who will carry forward the vision and values of our beloved school.

Over the past few weeks, the Carney Sandoe team met with parents, students, faculty, administrators, alumnae, and trustees during nearly forty in-person meetings at the Marymount Lower and Upper Campuses. In addition, nearly 900 individuals shared their views through the confidential survey. This high participation rate is yet another example of Marymount’s extraordinary spirit of collaboration and partnership. 

To guide our search process, we have taken the time to go through the survey results, as well as each and every comment shared during the open sessions and via the free-form survey questions. Your thoughtful and inspiring feedback resulted in several prevailing themes:

• Our academic excellence and deep sense of community remain highly valued across all constituencies, and the next Head of School must sustain and amplify the core qualities of Marymount.

• There is a deep appreciation for the dedicated teachers who provide personalized instruction to our daughters through small class sizes and low student-teacher ratios. Many of you suggested that our new Head should support the growth and development of the faculty and prioritize academic excellence and innovation in the curriculum.

• Our next Head of School must prioritize attracting and retaining outstanding, diverse faculty and administrators to further Marymount’s academic program excellence and serve as role models for our daughters.

• The Head of School must be an honest, approachable, and accessible leader with experience in an independent school environment.

• Across constituencies, there is a strong sentiment that the RSHM mission must remain front and center with a continued pursuit of its mission, “that all may have life and live it to the full.”

Using our community’s input, the Search Committee created the Marymount Head of School position description. This position description serves as an important tool in the recruitment process, offering potential candidates a glimpse into Marymount’s culture and encouraging the best candidates to participate in our search process.

From here, our Carney Sandoe team will begin recruiting, interviewing, and vetting appropriate candidates for the Search Committee to review and study. After preliminary and semi-finalist interviews during the winter, the Search Committee looks forward to identifying a group of finalists to bring back to the School for on-campus interviews in the spring. Our goal remains to hire a new Head of School by the end of this school year with a start date of July 2025.

The Search Committee is grounded in our boundless love and respect for Marymount, as well as infinite ambition and tremendous excitement for what our future holds. We will continue to provide updates and additional information through periodic emails and in this dedicated section of the website. 

Wishing you and your families a joyous Christmas season! Thank you again for your partnership.

Sincerely,

Paula Arrojo P’28, Search Co-Chair

Melissa Phelan Roessler ’85 P’17, Search Co-Chair

Dear Marymount Community,

We are reaching out to share more details on our Head of School search, as we are committed to keeping our community informed throughout this process. Before getting into details about several important upcoming activities, we want to express our gratitude and admiration for Concepcion Alvar’s incredible legacy. 

Thank you, Concepcion! Not only have you inspired thousands of young women, you have been a friend, mentor, shoulder to lean on, and trusted partner to countless families, students, faculty, staff, and alumnae. Your incredibly meaningful, daily interactions are part of the fabric of our community, and we are so grateful that we will continue to have you at the helm of Marymount for another year and a half. We will collectively use this time to continue educating our children, building and deepening important relationships and, of course, celebrating your accomplishments!

Search Process Overview & Timeline

We have retained Carney, Sandoe & Associates to lead the search for our next Head of School. Throughout the past few weeks, Carney Sandoe has been gathering feedback from parents, students, faculty, administrators, alumnae, and trustees on the qualities and abilities that Marymount is seeking in our next leader. 

With the information gathered in on-campus meetings and from a survey, we will produce a Marymount Head of School position profile. Our consultants will then begin screening candidates and, after preliminary and semi-finalist interviews during the winter, we will identify a group of finalists to bring back to the School for on-campus interviews in the spring. Flexibility is a key component of this process, so please understand that the timing of some of these events may shift as we proceed. Updates will be provided through periodic emails, and a dedicated section of the School’s website will provide additional information.

Search Committee

The ultimate responsibility for hiring a new Head of School rests with the Board of Trustees. To aid in that effort, the Board has appointed a Search Committee comprised of trustees, faculty, and administrators. The group assembled brings relevant experience, a diversity of perspectives, and boundless love and respect for Marymount, as well as infinite ambition and tremendous excitement for what our future holds! 

The members of the Search Committee are: 

• Cindy Wagner P’26, Chair of the Board of Trustees

• Paula Arrojo P’28, Trustee, Search Co-Chair

• Melissa Phelan Roessler ’85, P’17, Trustee, Search Co-Chair

• James Basker P’13, Trustee

• Sr. Rosamond Blanchet, RSHM, Trustee

• Alexis Bradford, Director of Finance and Operations

• Tina Ferriola P’34, P’35, Trustee

• Emily Garbaccio P’28, P’29, Trustee

• Rashida LaLande P’33, Trustee

• Shawn McDermott, Head Teacher, Class I

• Ken Pontarelli P’20, P’24, Trustee

• Matt Speiser, Associate Upper School Head for Academics.

The Board of Trustees is committed to finding an extraordinary leader who embraces Marymount’s mission and values and who will lead our school into an exciting and successful future. Thank you in advance for your participation and partnership. 

Sincerely, 

Paula Arrojo, Search Co-Chair

Melissa Phelan Roessler, Search Co-Chair

Dear Marymount Community,

Since Mother Butler founded Marymount in 1926, our mission has been grounded in educating both the heart and mind of young women and providing for their intellectual, spiritual, social and physical growth. Throughout our 97-year history, we have benefited from extraordinary leadership that has fulfilled this vision. Concepcion Alvar has been an integral part of Marymount’s success, and her impact can hardly be overstated. Thus, it is with a profound mix of emotions that I write to inform you of an important transition. After thirty-five years of devoted service and unwavering commitment to Marymount, our beloved Concepcion Alvar has decided to retire at the end of the 2024-25 academic year.

Concepcion’s vision, leadership, and tireless dedication have shaped Marymount into the thriving educational community it is today. Starting her Marymount career as an Early Childhood teacher in 1988, Concepcion was named Director of Admissions in 1991 and promoted to the first lay Head of School in 2004. During this time, Concepcion has enriched the lives of our students and fostered a spirit of community that has made Marymount the welcoming home we all know and love. Concepcion has been a true mentor and leader, demonstrating grace under pressure, unwavering support for our faculty and staff, and an unyielding commitment to the education and well-being of our students. Her passion for Marymount has left an indelible mark on all of us.

During Concepcion’s tenure, Marymount has achieved remarkable milestones and growth. It would be impossible to list all of her accomplishments, but a few notable achievements are the bold creation of our first Fab Lab, the invaluable partnership with the Met, the successful establishment of the Bloomberg Financial Literacy Program, the naming of Marymount as an Apple Distinguished School since 2015, and the completion of our amazing new Upper Campus at 115 East 97th Street. The legacy she will leave behind is one of innovation, compassion, and lasting impact. Concepcion is truly a force of nature who has executed with precision and grace Mother Butler’s dream to educate young women to challenge, shape, and change the world. She has inspired countless students, faculty, and staff, and has fostered a culture of lifelong learning and collaboration that will continue to shape Marymount for years to come.

The process of selecting a new Head of School is an important responsibility that the Board of Trustees will undertake with great care to ensure a smooth transition. By announcing her plan today, Concepcion has given the Board the time to conduct a thorough search while blessing the community with a seamless continuation of her inspirational leadership. The Head of School position at Marymount will be an exciting opportunity for talented educators, and the Board of Trustees is confident that we will attract a pool of top candidates. Our goal is to hire a new Head of School by the end of this school year with a start date of July 2025. The Board has formed a dedicated search committee led by trustees Paula Arrojo P'28 and Melissa Phelan Roessler '85, P'17, and they will reach out to the community within the week to discuss next steps. In addition, we have partnered with the highly regarded international search firm Carney, Sandoe & Associates to assist us in the search. Together, we look forward to finding a Head of School who can carry forward the vision and values of our beloved institution. During this transition period, we will ask for your invaluable input and support and will keep you well informed about the progress of the search.

Please join me in thanking Concepcion for her remarkable leadership and wish her a well-deserved and fulfilling future retirement. We will be organizing various activities and events in the future to honor her legacy and express our appreciation for her endless contributions. The Board of Trustees and I look forward to working with all of you as we make this important transition and celebrate Concepcion’s extraordinary leadership.

Sincerely,

Cindy Wagner

Chair, Marymount Board of Trustees

Dear Marymount Board of Trustees,