Head of School Search

Announcing Our Next Head of School

Dear Members of the Spence Community,

We are thrilled to announce that Felicia Wilks has been appointed by the Board of Trustees as The Spence School’s 15th Head of School. Ms. Wilks was unanimously recommended by the Search Committee to the Board of Trustees who also unanimously approved her appointment to succeed Bodie Brizendine in July 2022. We sought a dynamic Head of School who can build on Bodie’s remarkable 15-year Spence tenure and further strengthen Spence as a national leader in educating girls and young women. Ms. Wilks’ demonstrated and exemplary leadership is characterized by her genuine warmth, humor, perspective, and clarity of priorities and purpose. She has a lifelong passion for all-girls’ education and will lead our school with integrity, authenticity, and commitment to academic excellence and community. Ms. Wilks represents our highest ideals of a visionary educator who will sustain our mission and values with strategic intention and compelling care. We are excited and energized by the promise and potential of Ms. Wilks’ appointment as our new Head of School.

Read the June 11 Board of Trustees Announcement of the New Head of School here.

Communications To The Spence Community

Announcing Our New Head of School - June 11, 2021 Read Here

Head of School Search Update - April 27, 2021 Read Here

Bodie Brizendine and Board of Trustees Announcement – December 9, 2020 Read Here

Head of School Search Update – January 5, 2021 Read Here

The Search Committee

Anand Desai P’25

Vice President, Board of Trustees - Search Committee Co-Chair

Kimberly Kravis ’93, P’26, ’29, ’33

Vice President, Board of Trustees - Search Committee Co-Chair

Erin Buzby P’31, ’33

Head of the Mathematics Department

Renée Chung

Associate Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, and Dean of Parent and Student Inclusion and Belonging

Arthur Chu P’22, ’25
Secretary, Board of Trustees

Aletha Haynes

Lower School Head Teacher

William L. Jacob III P’19, ’21, ’26

Board Chair

Anya Herz Shiva ’88, P’28, ’31

Board of Trustees

Stacey St. Rose P’26

President of the Parents’ Association, Board of Trustees

Akuezunkpa Ude Welcome P’24, ’26

Vice President, Board of Trustees

Eric Zahler

Director of Teaching and Learning

“It is with great joy and humility that I accept the role of Spence’s next head of school. The school’s work to empower girls and to lift their voices is needed as much today as it was more than 129 years ago, when Clara Spence set her incredible vision for the school into action. My family and I are looking forward to joining the Spence community in 2022!”

— Felicia Wilks, 15th Head of The Spence School

Position Statement

The Spence School 2.11

Middle & Upper School

22 East 91st Street
New York, NY 10128

Lower School

56 East 93rd Street
New York, NY 10128

The Spence School, a private all-girls school located on the Upper East Side of New York City, offers a rigorous liberal arts study for diverse students in Grades K-12.

© Spence School 2017