Meet Dennis Bisgaard, Interim Head of School

We are pleased to welcome Dennis Bisgaard as our Interim Head of School for the 2022-2023 school year. Dennis has recently moved into the Head of School’s house on Park Tudor’s campus with his family. Prior to joining Park Tudor, Dennis was Interim Head of School at the Friends School of Baltimore, and has more than 30 years of experience in education.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.

My US family consists of my wife Monica, our children Nic (NYU graduate who works as music editor for a music streaming start up company in New York City), Saudea (a new freshman at the School of Art Institute of Chicago), Ruth Paige (Monica’s mom), and our small dog Blu, a Cavapoo. I have ten siblings and family spread across the globe.

What excites you about coming to Park Tudor?

Park Tudor has an enviable reputation, and I absolutely love the pre-K-12 educational space and the full journey from the wonders of our youngest learners to the idealism, sophistication, and versatility of seniors about to embark on their college careers and beyond. I look forward to exploring and getting to know the beautiful campus and the entire community. The energy, sense of community, and striving for excellence were palpable when I visited campus.

You’ve been an Interim Head of School at several independent schools. What is it about the interim role that appeals to you?

This will be my third interim head of school position. It is a remarkable privilege to become a member of a community for a full year, observing, absorbing, and integrating fully while wrapping your mind, arms, and heart around a school. You in essence become an internal consultant without any emotional baggage and your goal is to be as helpful as you possibly can be to all constituencies, asking questions, asking for rationale, suggesting potential improvements and solutions, tapping into my 30+ years of experience at a number of independent schools in the US.

What are the unique opportunities and challenges for an Interim Head vs. a permanent Head of School?

As an interim Head of School, you will have to be a quick study and interact with and meet as many people as possible. You do not have the opportunity to ease in but will have to do your very best to “hit the ground running” so you can become helpful as soon as possible. You want to tap into the talent, expertise, and versatility already present on campus, you want to listen closely and deeply, and reflect back what you observe, hear, interpret. You want to get a good sense of the student experience from beginning to end, you want to understand and bring to the surface what adults, families, and students love about Park Tudor, and you want to do your best to unpack the various narratives and interpretations that may exists within the community to help tease out and identify the most authentic identity, core values, and value added within the school, and how that aligns with the interpretation and experience of neighbors, and outsiders less familiar with the school.

What are your primary goals for your year at Park Tudor?

To get to know the school, the community, and all that is good and wonderful about the school. To potentially identify any shortcomings, challenges, structures and practices that might be improved. To ask lots of questions and provide observations and feedback. To listen without judgment and reflect back what I hear and understand. To be as transparent and communicative as possible, and to do everything within my power to be as helpful as I can.

What are you most looking forward to experiencing in Indianapolis?

I love sports and the arts, so I already know that my family and I will have plenty of opportunities both on campus and within the region to tap into what the school and Indianapolis have to offer. We love to explore our new surroundings and hopefully will be able to find time to do some sightseeing, find favorite restaurants, and embrace the chance to live for a full year in a part of the country we have only visited in the past. Of course, I look forward to experiencing the Colts season from up close.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I love to spend time with my family and I try to work out as much as I can - bikram hot yoga is one 90-minute activity in 105-degree heat I participate in regularly. I watch a lot of basketball, read, and go for long walks.

Is there anything else that you would like the Park Tudor community to know about you?

I am curious about and interested in people, in the diverse array of experience and lives lived. My birth and adoptive family members living all over the world have enriched my own life. I am a life-long learner, love to travel, enjoy new experiences, and exploring the unknown. I very much look forward to the next leg of my professional journey and to spend it with the Park Tudor community.