February 14, 2011
Dear Betty,
It is with a mixture of regret and heartfelt appreciation for your tremendous service to our beloved St. James Academy (“SJA”) that I accept your letter of resignation and retirement effective June 30, 2012. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, the faculty, members of the administration team, alumni, parents, parishioners, friends, and our students, we thank you for your extraordinary tenure as the leader of our school and the immeasurable contributions that you have brought to SJA as its Head.
It is not only your 25-year tenure that is remarkable, but also the numerous accomplishments under your leadership. To detail them all would be difficult, but I would like to acknowledge a few of your successes. It is easy to see the glorious physical school that you have helped build which include a new Science and Technology wing, gym and multi-purpose facility, and middle school. You guided us through three successful capital campaigns and increased the endowment from $9,000 in 1986 to over $2.3 million today! Along with this you have developed a most professional faculty and staff to nurture and teach our students as they develop. Remarkably, St. James Academy is now one of only a few schools in the nation with a certified International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme. Because of your faithful vision, our graduates are coveted by our peer schools and are extremely successful in their high school and college environments. You increased strategic and robust professional faculty development and compensation, supported the student body through increased tuition assistance, and integrated technology into program and communication.
You informed me when I joined the Board that this day would one day come, but I suppose we all hoped that it would always remain somewhere out there in the future. As difficult as it is to accept that the future is here, we also need to recognize that change in leadership is a natural part in the evolution of all institutions. More importantly, because of your vision and stewardship, St. James Academy is in a strong position to effectively transition to new head leadership. The search committee has been formed, a search consultant is in place, and I am confident that St. James Academy will attract the best candidates and that the Board will make the right choice for your successor with faculty, parent, alumni, parishioner and student input in the search process.
For now, I do not bid you farewell, as we have much celebration and a lot of exciting work to complete during the next year and a half. While I know you will work diligently through your last day, I’d like to thank you for all your gifts. They are enduring gifts.
Sincerely yours,
Thomas Moore, President
Board of Trustees
St. James Academy