Rochelle Hargraves Appointed Chief Financial and Operating Officer

Head of School Quentin McDowell P ’25, ’27 recently announced the appointment of Rochelle Hargraves as Mercersburg Academy’s chief financial and operating officer. Hargraves comes to Mercersburg from St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School in Washington, D.C.

“After a long search, we feel incredibly fortunate to welcome Rochelle to the Mercersburg Academy community,” said McDowell. “Her wealth of experience in independent schools and a range of other environments, as well as her genuine personality and perspective, will be a great fit for our school.”

Hargraves brings more than 25 years of experience working in broadbased businesses in strategic planning and operations for nonprofit and for-profit entities. Of those 25 years, 20 were in nonprofit educational settings. Hargraves joined St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School in 2016 as the assistant head of school for finance and operations. She led the real estate, financial, operational, and administrative functions of the school to strategically plan, develop, and implement initiatives that aligned with the school’s mission. Those initiatives included co-leading the pandemic response committee, creating and implementing a budget modeling process that successfully tracks the strategic five-year financial plan, overseeing and working with IT operations to achieve an innovative approach to teaching and learning, reviewing systems to manage internal controls of all financial activities, and emphasizing the importance of customer service provided to parents, faculty, and staff by applying an empathetic and curious approach in conversations.

“Strategic thinking and planning for independent schools are a joyful part of my work,” Hargraves said. “I am innately curious and constantly seeking the answers to the ‘why?’ of everything while working in close partnership with the head of the school and Board of Regents.”

Hargraves worked closely with the Board of Trustees at St. Patrick’s, contributing to seven committees. She collaborated with board members, senior leadership, and industry partners to revitalize operations and achieve ambitious targets such as increasing revenue from alternative sources by 2% of the operating budget. Hargraves is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) and the National Business Officers Association. She serves as a board member of the Education Benefit Services and Trust and the Barnesville School of Arts and Sciences, and is board treasurer of the Association of Independent Maryland and D.C. Schools.

“My approach to strategic planning is based on the belief that schools should develop strategies with agility in mind; therefore, setting the strategic direction of a school is of utmost importance, closely following the art of thinking strategically,” said Hargraves. “I believe it is the responsibility of school leadership to imagine what the future of work and the world will look like and equip our students with the skills necessary to thrive in this world.”

Prior to St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School, Hargraves spent six years working as the chief financial and administrative officer at the YWCA of the National Capital Area in Washington, D.C., and three years as the vice president of finance and operations at Health Industry Distributors Association in Alexandria, VA.

Hargraves graduated from the University of Western Cape in Cape Town, South Africa, with a bachelor of commerce degree and earned a master’s degree in business administration (finance) from American University in Washington, D.C. Other educational accomplishments include a certificate in school management and leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard Business School, as well as a diploma in accounting from Strayer University.

“I am elated and feel incredibly blessed to be joining the Mercersburg Academy community and to have the opportunity to positively contribute to this wonderful school,” said Hargraves.

Hargraves and her husband, Dirck, their children, Taylor and Connor, and their Bernedoodle, Jackson, will be relocating to Mercersburg this summer. The entire family cannot wait to meet new friends, human and furry.