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Building Relationships in a New Community
Associate Head of School Nancy Spencer P’13, ’15 will be leaving Westminster at the end of the academic year to become head of school at Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg, Fla., effective July 1. Appointed to the Westminster faculty in 2005, she has served in a leadership role in the Westminster community for 15 years.
Nancy Spencer at family-style lunch.
Nancy grew up in Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of the National Cathedral School for Girls. She earned a bachelor’s degree in American studies from Brown University and a master’s degree in American studies from Yale. She also holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Nancy brought with her to Westminster experience in teaching, coaching, admissions, marketing and college counseling. She is married to faculty member John Sandoval, who teaches in the Visual and Performing Arts Department at Westminster. They are the parents of Stan ’13, a 2017 graduate of Columbia University, and Sally ’15, a 2019 graduate of Dartmouth College.
Nancy shares some thoughts about her time at Westminster and becoming a head of school.
When did your interest in working at schools begin?
In my senior year at Brown University, I became interested in working in school admissions. My first two years out of college, I worked as assistant director of admissions at Madeira School, a girl’s boarding school in McLean, Va. I was able to travel, meet people and work in education, which appealed to me.
What led you to graduate school?
I attended graduate school at Yale to earn a master’s degree in American studies and to write a master’s thesis. I had not written a thesis as an undergraduate and wished I had. The irony is that it was about Ethel Walker, who founded The Ethel Walker School in Simsbury. It was titled “A Search for Autonomy: The Founding of Ethel Walker’s School, 1911-1917.” I wanted to write about girls’ secondary education, and there was not a lot of literature about it. Yale’s Sterling Memorial Library had 60 years of correspondence between Ethel Walker and her sister, who was married to a famous historian named Charles McLean Andrews. I was able to access those letters to write the thesis.
When did you start teaching?
I wanted to teach, so I went to Albuquerque Academy in Albuquerque, N.M., to teach AP U.S. History. My first year, I taught four classes, and the second year I was the assistant college counselor and taught part time. The third year, I became the 11th grade class dean. While working there for four years, I met my husband, John. that year, I wanted to return to a school setting, so I took a job at Bullis School, where I served as director of admissions and financial aid, leading an office of five people and still teaching history. Our daughter, Sally, was born while I was there, and John taught at Bullis as well.
What brought you to Westminster?
After nearly a decade at Bullis, I wanted to stretch some different muscles, so I started looking at other positions, mostly division heads and assistant heads of day schools. Graham Cole, who was Westminster’s head of school at the time, called me, and we met to discuss Westminster, which, ultimately, had openings for the assistant head of school and an art position. John and I interviewed in February, and I accepted the position as assistant head of school, and he was appointed an art teacher. Our children were 8 and 11 at the time.
As assistant head of school, my role focused on hiring, the marketing office and some stewardship for the Advancement Office related to letter writing.
What are your major responsibilities as associate head of school?
In 2012, I was named associate head of school by Head of School Bill Philip, so my role has evolved, while including most of my initial responsibilities. I’m in charge of the daily running of the “One of my major duties is recruiting and hiring for open faculty positions. We look for people who are deeply committed to students and boarding school life and who understand it is a way of life and not simply a job.”
Why did you choose to earn an MBA and work in the for-profit realm?
My application essay to Northwestern University was about how independent schools don’t train their leaders to be good managers. They tend to promote good teachers. To run schools effectively, managers need to understand how innovations work. While in business school, I got seduced into thinking I should try something outside of education, so I did an internship at Ben & Jerry’s as the company’s first MBA intern. I liked it but didn’t enjoy marketing consumer products.
When John was appointed the head of the Art Department at the Peddie School in New Jersey, I spent a year as a management consultant and did not like that either. Consultants come up with ideas and move on to the next project. In my opinion, they leave when it gets interesting. It was an important learning experience, however. My strengths are implementation and making things work.
When did you return to employment in schools?
After the birth of our first child, Stan, I worked part-time for IES, which is an independent school placement service. At the end of
Nancy teaching the course Outsiders in American History, which she created.
school when he is not on campus and provide support to him in whatever needs to be done. I think of myself as a chief operating officer.
One of my major duties is recruiting and hiring for open faculty positions. We look for people who are deeply committed to students and boarding school life and who understand it is a way of life and not simply a job. Successful candidates have a good sense of humor, enjoy being around students and possess a passion for their academic subject.
I am proud of my work chairing two different Schedule Committees, which looked at how we use time at school and led to schedule changes. The most recent Schedule Committee created protocols for how we run family-style lunch, starting with the philosophy behind it and the logistics. I rolled out the changes by talking to students, parents, trustees and faculty about how family-style lunch was going to work.
I also chair the Discipline Committee, the Technology Committee, the Food Committee and the Major Plant Committee and serve on a number of other committees related to school operations. Off campus, I co-chair the western New England assistant heads and deans of faculty group that gets together once a year. It’s a formidable group of administrators from all sorts of schools.
Among other responsibilities, I oversee the daily and yearly school calendar, the Marketing Department, Culture Draws and the NEASC Decennial two-year and five-year interim evaluation reports. I create agendas for and run faculty meetings, organize all aspects of Commencement Weekend, book guest speakers and singing groups, and organize crisis drills for safety planning. It is a broad portfolio involved in school administration.
What is your overarching management philosophy?
I tend to be open and accessible. While my style is to delegate and support people, I like to gather thoughts from a diverse group of people, analyze any data and move forward with decisions.
What are the biggest challenges in serving as associate head of school?
The biggest challenge is trying to make everybody feel heard. There are many different demands on the school, and people feel passionately about various issues. My role is often to listen and to do what’s in the best interest of the school. It’s about balancing people’s expectations and desires.
What are some of the rewards of this role?
One of the things I’ve loved best about this job is mentoring new faculty members and helping to develop administrators. I am proud to see new faculty grow, thrive and put down roots on campus. One of Westminster’s strengths is that people can take on administrative roles.
Similarly, I have enjoyed my relationships with faculty and students. This has been my first real foray into boarding schools,
and the intensity of the relationships is so much deeper than what I’ve seen elsewhere. You get to know people well, and they get to know you. As an example, the relationships I have formed with my advisees have been outstanding.
Have you always been a classroom teacher while at Westminster?
My first year, I taught U.S. History, and then for the past 14 years, I’ve taught one section of the Sixth Form elective Outsiders in American History, which I created. Westminster gave me back my teaching identity and that connection with students.
What are some Westminster milestones that stand out from your tenure?
The 125th anniversary celebration was amazing. Also having former faculty member Dick Adams as a mentor and friend has been wonderful. Added to that, the opening of Armour Academic Center set the school on a new trajectory.
What distinguishes the student experience at Westminster?
Our students are known. The connections they develop with their peers and with the adults in the school community are life altering. I saw this in my own children when they were students. Westminster is a school where students have connections that reinforce their whole school experience.
What enticed you to stay at Westminster for 15 years?
I have stayed because it is a wonderful community where I have been able to take on challenging projects and opportunities with many people. I have been able to grow and develop both personally and professionally.
Why was the Westminster campus a good place to raise your children?
Westminster was a good fit for our children because they had an opportunity to be challenged academically and excel athletically. I am eternally grateful to my colleagues who taught them, coached them and helped them through their adolescence. Stanley graduated from Columbia University with a degree in mechanical engineering and earned a master’s degree in aerodynamics at the University of Southampton. He is currently a performance engineer with Ed Carpenter Racing in Indianapolis. Sally majored in Spanish and works for the National Basketball Association in its digital media department in Secaucus, N.J.
Did you learn anything new about Westminster from a parent perspective?
I gained a much better understanding of how hard our students work when I saw my own children going through school. I also saw firsthand the extent to which faculty colleagues extend themselves on behalf of students and how fond students are of their teachers.
What are you looking forward to about serving as head of Shorecrest School?
Shorecrest is a vibrant day school community of 1,019 students located on 28 acres in the heart of St. Petersburg. Most students come from the St. Petersburg and Tampa Bay areas. I’m looking forward to getting to know a new community and building on the school’s existing strengths. I’ll be able to develop relationships with parents and families in a different way than I have at Westminster since students start there at age 3 and go all the way through 12th grade. We bought a home in St. Petersburg, which is a very arts-oriented and entrepreneurial city. “This has been my first real foray into boarding schools, and the intensity of the relationships is so much deeper than what I’ve seen elsewhere. You get to know people well, and they get to know you. “
Why is the school a good match for you?
Shorecrest is deeply committed to the whole child and supports all kinds of learning. It’s a self-described progressive school that prizes student-centered education and project learning, which I find really appealing. Half of the graduating class has been there since age 3, which tells you a lot about family commitment to the school.
What will you miss most about Westminster?
My 15 years at Westminster went by so quickly. I’ll miss the people, the sense of camaraderie and the values of Grit & Grace. Westminster is a school where people pull together. There is an incredible sense of collegiality. People genuinely give each other the benefit of the doubt, and everyone’s working in the best interests of students. There is a real trust among colleagues as we work toward the same goal and on the same team.
