On August 1, a surprising email was sent to all parents of the Ethical Culture Fieldston School community titled “Leadership updates.” In it, the ECFS Board of Trustees explained that a new leadership system had been introduced to our school.
This new system has a single leader, Chief Executive Officer Kyle Wilke-Glass, who manages the entire school in terms of academics, operations and logistics. In addition, he has a senior team that reports to him. This includes the principals from all four divisions, the Executive Director of Student Support and Wellness, the Executive Director of Belonging and Social Impact (BSI), the Executive Director of operations, the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Human Resources Officer, the general council, the chief advancement officer, director of technology, director of enrollment management and financial aid and director of athletics. The Board suggested this allows for streamlined communication which, in the long term, will help our school have a higher efficiency rate.
Although this may seem like a major shift, students, at first glance, are not directly impacted. Other than the speakers at graduations, moving up ceremonies, Founders Day and big moments for our school, there will not be a huge difference for our student body, in terms of direct contact.
Wilke-Glass expressed his hope to “just see more stability and consistency.” In addition, the shift to a one-person leadership role is a permanent decision that the board made in the summer.
However, this is not the first time that leadership and power dynamics at this institution have changed. After all, in 2028, the school approaches its 150th anniversary, while the upper campus, Fieldston Upper, is approaching its 100th anniversary. In the early days of the school, we had a founder (Felix Adler), who founded both The Ethical Culture Society and then The Workingman’s School, and then The Ethical Culture School and then The Fieldston School; Adler worked with a series of directors and principals, who all worked with a Board of Governors which became The Board of Trustees of The Ethical Culture Society. The Society and the school were inextricably mixed, until the 1990s, when the schools separated from the Society. The school’s history made it easier for the board and the leadership team to make this decision.
Mica McGriggs (Executive Director of Student Support and Wellness) said that she hopes that we can “continue to [make] every student feel like they can thrive here.”
In addition, Wilke-Glass hopes that our school will continue to develop and grow to fit the needs of our school while challenging typical learning approaches with progressive education initiatives. Although it may seem like a big change, he believes that with the support and trust of all faculty, staff, parents and students we will be able to make a smooth shift.
