Head of School Search

May 11, 2020 | 17 Iyyar 5780

To our Akiba/Barrack Community,

As you know, Sharon Levin will be leaving her position of Head of School at the end of the academic year, 2020–2021. The process of recruiting our next Head of School has begun, and we have been asked to Co-Chair the Search Committee by the Board of Directors.

Our Head of School Search Committee consists of:

Our first step was to interview executive search firms, and we decided to engage DRG Talent Advisory Group. DRG has extensive experience and a successful track record of consulting with and recruiting top talent for Jewish day schools. Dara Klarfeld, CEO, and Sarah Raful Whinston, Senior Search Consultant, will be leading the search on our behalf. 

The Search Committee and Board are committed to conducting an open, transparent and comprehensive search for Barrack’s next Head of School. Over the next few weeks, the Search Committee and DRG will be reaching out to all the members of the Barrack family — parents, students, faculty, staff, alumni and their parents, donors, and other supporters — to listen to your thoughts about the kind of leader Barrack needs to guide us into the future.

Barrack is committed to nurturing, inspiring, and preparing young people for the classroom and for life. Our students develop intellectually, socially, and spiritually — and they graduate secure in their identity, abilities, and readiness to succeed as they make a difference locally and globally. We are confident that our search process will yield the right next Head of School for the 2021–2022 school year and this exciting next chapter in the life of Barrack.

We will involve and inform the community throughout the process. In this regard, we have created a web page to cover updates for our search. Please check here for updates, or feel free to reach out to any one of us with questions. We are looking forward to engaging with the Barrack community throughout this process and to diving into this exciting and important work.

Kol tov, 

Sharon Levin’s dedication and devotion to Akiba/Barrack is the lynch pin that connects the school’s past and present to its future. No matter which hat Sharon is wearing, she always has the best interest of the students, faculty, families, and community in her heart and mind. First, as an inspiring history teacher, then as the innovative Humanities Department Chair, Academic Dean, and finally as our dynamic Head of School, Sharon’s legacy reverberates far and wide. She has certainly made Akiba/Barrack a place where students love where they learn. In Gematria, Jewish numerology, the number 34 stands for the word “heal”. This is emblematic of Sharon’s impact on our community. Especially now, we are so grateful for the strong leadership Sharon has provided and will continue to provide for the balance of her tenure, as she masterfully navigates our school community safely through the COVID-19 disruption. Now, more than ever, the school benefits from her leadership.

I wanted to take this opportunity now to provide more information about our Head of School search process. I have asked Michele Levin and Lisa Sandler to serve as co-chairs of the search committee, which has been formed and is about to start its work. In populating the committee, we worked diligently to select people from differing geographic areas and levels of observance, as well as alumnae and current and past parents. The members of the search committee are: Michele Levin, Lisa Sandler, co-chairs, Jeff Barrack, Peggy Carver, Yoella Epstein, Oren Friedman, Marcia Glickman, Tracy Gordon, Rachel Scheinmann, Steve Shapiro, Rachel Wachs, Jen Willner, Carol Wilson and Jonathan Zabusky. I will be serving on the committee in an ex officio capacity. 

In addition, we have recently engaged a professional search firm, DRG - Talent Advisory Group. Michele and Lisa vetted over 20 search firms and interviewed 7 of those firms prior to making their recommendation. DRG has handled many Head of School assignments for both Jewish day schools and non-Jewish independent schools. DRG’s assignment with Barrack will be headed up by Dara Klarfield, the CEO of DRG. Dara has over 20 years of experience in advising non-profit organizations, and is a committed member of the Jewish day school community - Dara went to Jewish day school, sends her children to Jewish day school and she is a former board member and teacher at a Jewish day school. Dara has worked to identify more than 40 Heads of school for Jewish day schools during her time at DRG. We are very excited to be working with Dara and her team.

Over the coming days, you will receive additional information about the search process from Lisa and Michele. It is a sign of the strength of our school, that even as we deal with the disruptions of the current environment, we are able to enthusiastically plan for our future. 

Sharon, as the accomplished educator and leader that she is, has implemented systems that will allow our beloved Barrack Hebrew Academy to continue to grow and thrive long after she leaves. Her legacy is already firmly cemented, and our community will be indebted to her forever. As we observe Sharon’s steady hand during the COVID-19 Crisis, we celebrate Sharon even more, and express our deepest gratitude to her for expertly navigating Barrack into a position of educational excellence and stability.

We look forward to building on Sharon’s legacy, and to Barrack moving from strength to strength.

Kol Tov,