trevordayschool

– Feature Article – A Reflection on Leadership and Community by Morgan Porzio with contributions from MaryKay Coyle, Valerie Mnuchin, and Sally Rocker There are milestones in the life of an organization that provide opportunities not only for celebration, but for reflection. Reaccreditation; recrafting a mission statement; the development of a strategic plan; an anniversary; and even a retirement. Each is an occasion to reflect upon an institution's progress, and appreciate the community involved in bringing it to fruition. Time and time again in his letters, interviews, and presentations, Scott Reisinger references community and collaboration as central to the school's success. Looking back at nearly a decade of his headship at Trevor Day School, we are not just appraising an individual, but the experiences and accomplishments of thousands of students, alumni, families, faculty, and staff. Scott began his headship on July 1, 2014, and the search that brought him to Trevor started over a year earlier. Board Chair emeritus MaryKay Coyle recalls, "Given that we were at such a pivotal point in Trevor's history, we assembled a committee to lead an exhaustive search for our next Head of School. The thought was to go big and cast a wide net. We had an incredible variety of highly qualified applicants to consider. After a thorough and inclusive process the search committee unanimously concluded that Scott Reisinger was the right person for the job." When he arrived, Trevor was working toward finalizing its $28M Building the Future capital campaign and grappling with the challenging timelines associated with construction and building certification in New York City. Although September 2014 was the move-in goal for the new Middle and Upper School on 95th Street, Scott, along with the building committee, managed numerous delays in his first months at Trevor. Ultimately he led the move eight months later, in May 2015—shifting technology, furniture, and hundreds of humans from the UWS to the UES over the course of a long weekend. "I credit Scott with the transition of our school to all the new buildings," says Board President emeritus Sally Rocker. "Every student, faculty, and staff member moved. That's a huge undertaking. Scott exhibited stability, optimism, and a rallying cry of 'We'll all get through this together.' It was a huge accomplishment for Trevor." Sally also credits Scott with timely strategic planning in 2015 and 2016. "He followed our move by taking stock of where we were as a school and where we wanted to be in the next five to seven years. And he led that process brilliantly." Trevor underwent the strategic planning process in tandem with a ten-year reaccreditation with the New York State Association of Independent Schools. Both were highly collaborative and iterative processes that utilized many community voices. The resulting Strategic Plan focused on five pillars that have guided Trevor throughout Scott's tenure: Program; Faculty & Teaching Excellence; Enrollment Management; Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Engagement; and Fiscal Sustainability. The efforts to enhance and advance programs during Scott's tenure were myriad, always guided by Trevor's promise of ambitious academics, engaged students, and balanced lives. The school has seen the expansion of world languages to include Mandarin, a new Middle School U.S. history curriculum, a new Lower School TREVOR DAY SCHOOL / 37 INSIDE TREVOR TREVOR TRANSLATES FEATURE AR TICLES ALUMNI

• Cover