Concord Academy recently announced that Sally Zimmerli will be stepping down from her senior administrative role as the Dean of Students after completing her five-year personal tenure. She is planning to return to the classroom in the 2021-2022 school year as both a history teacher and a member of the Health and Wellness Task Force.
In her role as Dean, Sally played a pivotal part in helping to improve the quality of student life. She stated that she had entered this position with “the goal of helping out and adding whatever I could to the atmosphere at school, and daily life of students.” Examples of her work include partnering with the Student Council to highlight and promote student initiatives, helping develop the Boardingware system, and increasing awareness of and support for mental/emotional health. Additionally, Sally highlighted how she wanted to create a culture of “calm and mutual respect” during her role as Dean.
Although Sally’s decision to step down was no doubt a difficult one to make, she mentioned in her message to the school that the classroom, her family, and her desire to work with the Health and Wellness are some of the reasons that spurred the decision. In her own words, “…[I] am anxious to return to the classroom. I also hope to return to work begun by the Health and Wellness Task Force, to reimagine the curriculum of the Health and Wellness program…Finally, I will also name that on my mind is my desire to give my family a bit more of my time and good energy.”
Looking ahead to the next school year, Rick Hardy mentioned in his email from October 14th that there will be a search committee consisting of faculty and staff who will work together to identify the person who will succeed Sally. The committee will be co-chaired by Rob Munro, Dean of Academic Program and Equity, and Maggy Godfroy, Director of Human Resources. Like previous searches for new faculty, Rick has also invited members of the faculty and staff to join the search advisory committee.
As a valued member of the CA community for twenty years, Sally has led with kindness, optimism, and gentle good humor no matter the challenge. The community is deeply grateful for all her work as Dean of Students and is very excited to see her back in the classroom!