Meet the Heads of School

Head of Lower School

Lauren DuPriest brings almost two decades of experience as a Westminster teacher and administrator to her role as head of the Lower School. Whether teaching science, leading our youngest learners through the design thinking process, coaching robotics, or exposing fifth graders to diverse points of view through her Lunch Bunch book club, Lauren’s focus has always been on sparking Lower School students’ curiosity and understanding. Prior to being named head of Lower School in 2022, Lauren served as director of operations and communications for nine years, and her hand is evident in every detail of school life, from calendars and classroom schedules to exciting enrichment programming for conference days. She graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a double major in elementary education and child development and holds a master’s in reading, language, and literacy from Georgia State. Lauren and her husband, Walter ’99, are parents to Edwin ’29 and Griffin ’32.

Head of Middle School

Leslie Ann Little begins her 41st year in education as the new Head of Middle School at Westminster, where she’s been on the faculty since 1995. Over the years, Leslie Ann has served as an English and language arts teacher, a grade chair, dean of students and assistant head of the Middle School with a focus on academic programs. In these roles, she helped launch a student-friendly modified schedule with midday office hours as well as a host of innovations that have come to define Westminster’s Middle School experience, including Monday Morning Meeting, the eighth grade retreat, and MayATL. She graduated magna cum laude from Mercer University and earned an MA in independent school leadership from the Klingenstein Center at Columbia University. Leslie Ann and her spouse, Betty, are devoted dog lovers, particularly partial to dachshunds and scruffy rescue dogs.

Head of Upper School

Dr. Chanley Small ’87 is an alum of Westminster and was a long-serving teacher in the Upper School before becoming head of the Upper School in 2022. She holds degrees from Brown, Stanford, and Emory. Prior to joining the Westminster faculty in 2008, she worked as a professor and researcher in epidemiology at Emory. She chaired our science department for five years, helped launch and lead the Upper School JanTerm program in its first three years, and was named Upper School academic dean in 2017. She describes the Upper School as “a place full of inspiring students and faculty who work together as a community of learners and innovators.” Chanley and her husband, Michael, are the parents of three children.