A Letter from the Board of Trustees Chair

Dear Buckley Community,

 

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am thrilled to announce that Alona Scott will be the next head of The Buckley School as of July 1, 2019.

 

Her appointment is the result of a rigorous national recruitment effort aimed at finding the right leader to promote Buckley’s mission and well-rounded educational approach while ensuring we remain a first-rate learning institution.

A native Angeleno and alumna of Marlborough School, Ms. Scott holds an AB in religion from Princeton University (cum laude) and two masters in education – the first in reading and literacy from Bank Street College and another in private school education from Columbia University, Teachers College. Since 2013, she has been the Head of School at Keys School in Palo Alto. Prior to that, Ms. Scott served as the Director of Middle School at the Hackley School, in Tarrytown, New York, and the Head of the Lower School at La Jolla Country Day School, in La Jolla, California. As a trustee at Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos, she served as co-chair of the rabbinic transition and vision committees and a member of the strategic planning and trustee nomination committees.

 

These robust qualifications, along with an empathic approach to K-12 teaching and learning, innovative approach to pedagogy, and commitment to equity and inclusion united both the search committee and board of trustees, who voted unanimously for Alona’s appointment. We were also pleased to receive an overwhelmingly positive response from the entire Buckley community. A huge thank you for your active participation and feedback, which proved invaluable in the decision-making.

 

Alona, her husband Lacarya Scott, and their sons Mo (10) and Zeke (8) are very excited to move to Los Angeles and join the Buckley community.

 

Over the coming months, the board will work closely with Alona as she gets to know Buckley and together we will develop a plan that results in a smooth and successful onboarding. We also continue to be grateful for the strong leadership of Andrew Wooden, who will be an integral part of the transition. We are confident that we can all collaborate on completing a successful school year while looking to the future with great optimism. 

 

Valeria Rico Nikolov