HISTORY IN THE MAKING

A conversation with Natalia R. Hernández, Ed.D.

» Head of School 2017–present

In July 2017, Natalia R. Hernández, Ed.D. began her tenure as Breck’s 16th Head of School. With her appointment, Dr. Hernández joined an accomplished group of Breck leaders, all of whom — with the exception of Kathryn Harper, who served as interim Head of School during the 1986–87 school year — were men. Dr. Hernández doesn’t feel the need to put an asterisk on her title, though, to distinguish that she’s the first woman in her position. Having the privilege of leading a community like Breck is honor enough.

In six years, Dr. Hernández has already left her mark at Breck. She led the school through the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and, this year, in partnership with the Board of Trustees and Breck’s Senior Leadership Team, developed and affirmed a new mission statement and core values. Though the community can already feel Dr. Hernández’s impact, in many ways, her work at Breck is only just beginning.

Other than the interim Head of School Kathryn Harper, Breck has never had a full-time female Head of School. What does holding that title mean to you?

Being Head of School at Breck is a role I love and am very proud of. But from a self knowledge perspective, I’m just the Head of School at Breck, not the female Head of School. I recognize that for our community — our young men, or young women, or nonbinary children — my being the first woman leader may be significant. But I don’t lead with it. I don’t see myself as anything but Natalia who loves Breck and is trying to do everything right by this community.

I do think it’s important to acknowledge Kathryn Harper who served as interim Head of School for one year in the 1980s. But I’m surprised Breck hasn’t had a full-time female Head of School before me. I don’t think it’s representative of our community and what our community would have aspired to. I think Breck would have been the perfect place to have had a female Head of School of color decades before now. But I do think we’re creating an environment now at Breck where it’ll be easier in the future for non-traditionally dominant identities to have positions of leadership. I hope that it just becomes more normalized for everyone.

What have you been most proud of during your tenure as Head of School?

There aren’t very many Heads of School at Breck who have had the honor of approving a new mission statement and core values. So I am very proud of that work. I’m also super proud that our mission statement and our core values really do exemplify our community and our culture that we are working to create and become. The language of the new mission statement is the actual representation of both who we are and who we aspire to be.

To me, leadership isn’t about a person; leadership is about creating a context where we can all create the community we want together. I think our mission statement and core values give us very clear definitions about who Breck is and who Breck wants to be.

I do think the word community falls short here at Breck, though. When you ask someone what is special about this place, community is one of the most common words people use to describe it. But they always say that word is not enough. Every school says their community is special, but it’s different here. There’s something else: la salsa — the secret sauce. The word community doesn’t fully convey that piece. I think our mission statement and core values attempt to give language to what has always been happening here, what makes our community so unique.

Your journey at Breck is just beginning, relative to the other women in these pages whose Breck stories span decades. What does it feel like to be recognized alongside such esteemed Breck leaders?

I’m honored. I don’t know all of these women as well as others do, but what I do know is that they pursued the mission of Breck with their whole heart. These women worked incredibly hard on behalf of our school for what they thought was best for students. They are known and revered and highly regarded at Breck because their commitment to this place was unwavering.

These women built programs that changed the face of who this school was. People came here because of these women. Families chose Breck because of the programs these women built. Under Peg’s leadership in the last few years, we have more students applying to the Lower School than ever in our school’s history. People still talk about Margaret Wong when they talk about our Chinese program. Breck would not be the Breck it is today without the contributions of these women. And although we have never had a female Head of School before me, it’s not like we didn’t have strong female leaders. Because we absolutely did in these women and many others. B