Head of School Search

List of 9 items.

• ESA's Next Head of School

  Dear Friends,
  
  

  On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the Head Search Committee, I am delighted to announce that Nowell Hesse will join Episcopal School of Acadiana as our next Head of School, beginning July 1, 2026. After an extensive national search that drew exceptional candidates from across the country, we are thrilled to welcome Nowell into the ESA family.
  
  

  Throughout our search process, we sought a leader who would embody the values that define our school community: love, courage, and intellectual rigor. In Nowell, we have found someone whose character, experience, and educational philosophy align beautifully with ESA’s mission and aspirations.
  
  

  Nowell brings to ESA a distinguished career in independent school leadership, currently serving as Head of High School at Ensworth School in Nashville, where he oversees all operations for their upper school campus. His experience stewarding academic excellence, fostering inclusive community, and managing the complexities of independent school leadership has prepared him exceptionally well for this role. Perhaps most importantly, he understands that great schools are fundamentally relationship-driven institutions where trust, integrity, and genuine care for students form the bedrock of transformative education.
  
  

  What resonated most deeply with our search committee was Nowell’s authentic commitment to developing the whole person. His belief that education extends far beyond academic achievement to encompass character formation and community contribution mirrors our own conviction that we are cultivating young people who will make meaningful differences in the world. His approach to leadership—collaborative, thoughtful, and rooted in the belief that schools exist to help people become better versions of themselves—reflects the very ethos that makes ESA distinctive.
  
  

  As we prepare for this exciting transition, I want to express profound gratitude to Dr. Annie Spell and every member of our search committee for their dedicated service throughout this process. Their wisdom, discernment, and unwavering commitment to ESA’s future have made this outstanding selection possible. I also want to thank Tom Olverson and the team at RG175 for their expertise and guidance.
  
  

  Nowell believes deeply in the importance of understanding a school’s unique culture before charting its course forward. In the months ahead, he will dedicate himself to listening and learning about the traditions and values that make ESA distinctive, and building authentic relationships with our students, faculty, staff, families, and alumni. This intentional approach to transition reflects his commitment to honoring our school’s established strengths while thoughtfully considering opportunities for continued growth.

  Together, we will continue to nurture young minds and hearts, preparing our students not simply for academic success but for lives of purpose, integrity, and service.
  
  

  Please join me in welcoming Nowell Hesse to the Episcopal School of Acadiana family. The best is yet to come.
  
  

  With gratitude and excitement,
  
  Lon Baronne II MD
  Board Chair
   
  
  Message from Nowell:
  
  I sensed ESA was a unique and special place the very first time I stepped on each campus, a feeling fully confirmed in each conversation throughout the search process. The deep connection to the ESA community and the profound appreciation for the ESA experience expressed by everyone I met were both compelling and inspiring. The more I have learned about ESA, the more certain I have become that it is exactly where I want to invest my personal and professional energy in the years to come. 
  
  

  I am honored to accept the role of Head of School and grateful to the Search Committee and the Board of Trustees for the opportunity to serve and lead such an extraordinary school. I look forward to partnering with the Board, the leadership team, faculty and staff, and parents on the road ahead as we steward ESA through its next phase of growth and development, always in service of our mission, our students, and our community. I am also thrilled to return closer to my roots in South Louisiana, and I look forward to introducing my children to the ESA family very soon!
   
  -Nowell Hesse

• August 2025 Update

  Dear ESA Community,
  
  

  With the start of a new school year quickly approaching, I wanted to provide an exciting update on behalf of the Head of School Search Committee. During the month of July, the Committee interviewed seven semifinalists. Based on these interviews and continued review of applicant records, alongside ongoing consultation with Tom Olverson of RG175, we have offered an on campus, three-day visit to two finalist candidates in the upcoming weeks. This selection was based on their outstanding qualifications, alignment with our school mission, and intended fit within our community. The Committee is not only encouraged by these finalists, but we are eager to introduce them to you - our community.  
  
  

  These upcoming visits, scheduled for August 26th-28th and September 3rd-5th, will serve as an opportunity for the two finalists to visit both campuses and interact with various members of our school community, thereby informing the Committee in our next steps. 
  
  

  Throughout this process, the Search Committee has maintained unwavering commitment to the rigorous methodology recommended by Mr. Olverson. While the final outcome remains unwritten, we have tremendous confidence in the thorough, principled approach that has brought us to this pivotal moment. Given such, we will continue to adhere to these 5 guiding pillars:

   

  -  We will diligently ensure the mission of ESA maintains with strength.
  -  We will earnestly work to allow the current and future needs of ESA to come first, ahead of our own personal histories or biases.
  -  We will steadfastly adhere to the refined and highly reputable process offered by Tom Olverson and his team at RG175.
  -  We will faithfully offer updates to the school community at appropriately identified stages of this process.
  -  We will unwaveringly maintain confidentiality of the internal workings of this committee, ensuring integrity of process for best outcome.

   

  On behalf of the Search Committee, I want to extend our gratitude to Kat Movassaghi, Elizabeth Pham, Anne Spears, and Virginia Stokes as they assisted with the semifinalist visits. Additionally, the Search Committee is appreciative of the leadership of Matthew Granberry (’98), chair of the Alumni Advisory Committee; Christina Hidalgo, chair of the Faculty Advisory Committee; and Amy Lee, chair of the Parent/Past Parent Advisory Committee. Further, the dedication and trust you all have shown throughout this search reflects the very best of ESA. 

   

  With continued faithfulness,
  Dr. Annie Spell
  Search Committee Chair
  
  

• June 2025 Update

  Dear ESA Community,
  
  

  I hope your summer has begun with a sense of pride in all we accomplished during the 2024–2025 school year. While campus life has slowed, the work of your Head of School Search Committee has continued with focus and purpose. With the guidance of Tom Olverson from RG175, we have made meaningful progress, and I would like to share an update on where things stand.
  
  

  Since March, we have received a robust and wide pool of applications from candidates across the country, representing a notable range of leadership experience including several with prior Head of School roles. From that pool, the top eight were identified through in-depth interviews with Mr. Olverson, scrutinous reference checks, and detailed review of application materials.

  
  Earlier this month, the Committee met to determine next steps and extended invitations to six semi-finalists for in-person interviews in July. All six accepted. We are encouraged not only by their experience, but by their genuine interest in the possibility of leading ESA and contributing to our community. At the conclusion of the July interviews, the Committee will then determine those candidates that emerge as the best fit for our community, offering them an on campus, two-day visit with further interviews once school is back in session. 
  
  

  This process has been both thorough and energizing. We are excited by the caliber of leadership that ESA continues to attract, and we are committed to identifying the candidate who best aligns with our values, vision, and community.  I want to thank our Search Committee members - Lon Baronne, Tyson Cromwell, A’Dair Herrington, Christiaan Mader, Pat Stokes, and Court Ramsay - for their time, discernment, and deep commitment to ESA’s future.

  As we move forward with purpose and confidence in the path ahead, we remain committed to our 5 guiding pillars:

   

  ·         We will diligently ensure the mission of ESA maintains with strength.

  ·         We will earnestly work to allow the current and future needs of ESA to come first, ahead of our own personal histories or biases.

  ·         We will steadfastly adhere to the refined and highly reputable process offered by Tom Olverson and his team at RG175.

  ·         We will faithfully offer updates to the school community at appropriately identified stages of this process.

  ·         We will unwaveringly maintain confidentiality of the internal workings of this committee, ensuring integrity of process for best outcome.

   

  With continued faithfulness,

  Dr. Annie Spell
  Search Committee Chair

• April 2025 Update

  Dear ESA Community,

   

  A few weeks ago, Tom Olverson with RG175 visited both of our campuses for the purpose of gaining a deeper understanding of ESA. His activities included meeting with various groups of community members such as trustees, administration, staff, faculty, students, parents, alumni, and donors. Thank you to all who participated in these activities. His in-person visit, as well as his thorough review of existing data regarding ESA's functioning, will allow him to have productive conversations with prospective candidates.

   

  Over the next three months, Mr. Olverson and the Search Committee will be sourcing and vetting candidates. This will entail careful review and analysis of potential candidates along criteria that are both universal, as well as particular to ESA’s needs and opportunities. The marriage of both sets of criteria is aimed at identifying those candidates that are not just strong leaders, but are also best suited for our community, its current position, and its future.  

  
   As we embark on the recruitment phase, the Search Committee continues to be steadfastly committed to these five guiding pillars:

   

  ·         We will diligently ensure the mission of ESA maintains with strength.

  ·         We will earnestly work to allow the current and future needs of ESA to come first, ahead of our own personal histories or biases.

  ·         We will steadfastly adhere to the refined and highly reputable process offered by Tom Olverson and his team at RG175.

  ·         We will faithfully offer updates to the school community at appropriately identified stages of this process.

  ·         We will unwaveringly maintain confidentiality of the internal workings of this committee, ensuring integrity of process for best outcome.

   

  With continued faithfulness,
  
  

  Annie Spell, Ph.D.

• February 2025 Update

  Dear ESA Community,

   

  We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who participated in the school assessment survey conducted by Tom Olverson of RG175 over the past few weeks. Your exceptional response rate has provided both depth and precision to his evaluation of ESA’s current strengths that we are committed to preserving, as well as the school’s opportunities that we endeavor to identify in this process.

   

  As part of his established assessment protocol, Mr. Olverson will visit both campuses on March 10-12. During this time, he will meet with various stakeholders including trustees, administrators, staff, faculty, students, parents, alumni, and donors. This on-site visit is designed to deepen his understanding of ESA, thereby clarifying our institution's unique position as we seek Dr. Baker's successor as Head of School. 

   

  As we progress further through the assessment phase with Mr. Olverson, the Search Committee remains guided by these five fundamental principles that will shape our activities and decisions in the coming months:

   

  ·         We will diligently ensure the mission of ESA maintains with strength.

  ·         We will earnestly work to allow the current and future needs of ESA to come first, ahead of our own personal histories or biases.

  ·         We will steadfastly adhere to the refined and highly reputable process offered by Tom Olverson and his team at RG175.

  ·         We will faithfully offer updates to the school community at appropriately identified stages of this process.

  ·         We will unwaveringly maintain confidentiality of the internal workings of this committee, ensuring integrity of process for best outcome.

   

  With continued faithfulness,
  
  

  Dr. Annie Spell
  Search Committee Chair

• Survey and Search Pillars

  Dear ESA Community,

   

  As we endeavor to select a successor to Dr. Baker, serving as our next Head of School, the Search Committee is committed to 5 pillars guiding our activities and choices in the months ahead:

  ·   We will diligently ensure the mission of ESA maintains with strength.

  ·   We will earnestly work to allow the current and future needs of ESA to come first, ahead of our own personal histories or biases.

  ·   We will steadfastly adhere to the refined and highly reputable process offered by Tom Olverson and his team at RG175.

  ·   We will faithfully offer updates to the school community at appropriately identified stages of this process.

  ·   We will unwaveringly maintain confidentiality of the internal workings of this committee, ensuring integrity of process for best outcome.

   

  While still in the early stages of this search, we are asking for members of the ESA community to complete the following confidential survey with submission by February 21^st. Every member’s feedback is valued as we all hold ESA, its history, and its future dear. Please know that your submissions will be sent directly to Mr. Olverson, allowing him to gain insight into all aspects of ESA, thereby better informing his guidance to the Search Committee.  Thus, your feedback will help shape the selection process at its initiation.

   

  (Survey no longer available)

   

  With faithfulness,

  
  
  

  Dr. Annie Spell
  Search Committee Chair 

• January 2025 Update

  Dear ESA Community,

   

  I am writing to update you on our progress in selecting ESA's next head of school, a responsibility that the Board of Trustees approaches with the utmost reverence. I am pleased to announce that we have engaged RG175, a highly respected educational leadership search firm, to assist us in this crucial process. The search will be led by Tom Olverson, who brings not only extensive experience in educational leadership searches, but also a deep personal connection to ESA's history and mission, having played an instrumental role in helping our school achieve its recognized standard of academic excellence during its foundational years.

   

  Mr. Olverson will be conducting a comprehensive site visit in March to gain a thorough understanding of our school community's needs, values, and aspirations. During his visit, he will meet with various stakeholders, including the Board of Trustees, parents, and faculty members. These conversations will be invaluable in helping us identify candidates who align with ESA's mission and values while possessing the vision and leadership qualities necessary to guide our school into its next chapter.

   

  To ensure a thorough and inclusive search process, we have assembled a dedicated search committee comprising distinguished members of our community:

   

  Dr. Lon Baronne ’00 (Board Chair)

  Tyson Cromwell ’96 (Board Member)

  Dr. A'Dair Herrington ’00 (Board Member)

  Christaan Mader ’02 (Board Member)

  Court Ramsay ’83 (previous Board Chair)

  Dr. Annie Spell (Chair of Head Search Committee/previous Board Vice Chair)

  Pat Stokes (previous Board Chair)

   

  This committee will work closely with Mr. Olverson and RG175 throughout the search process, carefully evaluating candidates and ensuring that our next headmaster possesses both the professional expertise and personal qualities needed to lead ESA forward while honoring our traditions and values.

   

  We understand the significance of this transition for our school community, and we are committed to conducting this search with the diligence and thoughtfulness it deserves. We will continue to keep you informed of significant developments in the search process as they occur.

   

  Thank you for your trust and support as we work to secure ESA's continued success through this important transition.

   

   

  Sincerely,
  
  Dr. Lon M. Baronne II '00

  Chair, Board of Trustees

• A Message from Dr. Paul Baker

  October 2, 2024

   

  Dear ESA Community,

   

  I am writing today to thank you all for the past thirty years! I am fond of telling the story of Lauren and me sitting in the new parent orientation when our son, Garrett, started ESA as a junior in 1995. Being impressed with Garrett’s experience, I applied and began teaching at ESA the next year and never looked back. To say that serving as ESA’s seventh headmaster has been an honor and a privilege as well as the defining professional experience of my life doesn’t come close to capturing all that this school means to me and my family. It is with a full heart that I want to share that next year, the 2025-26 school year, will be my 30^th year at ESA, and my 13^th and final year as headmaster of ESA. Just as Lauren and I look forward to our next chapter of “retirement,” it is now time for ESA to prepare to enter its next phase.

   

  I put retirement in quotes because we both have so much we want to do, including traveling while we are still young enough to enjoy it. Some of you may know that I was an active composer 20 years ago, and I look forward to getting back to writing my next pieces, as well as several other creative endeavors that I’ve had to put on hold.

   

  I am so proud of our amazing community and all that we have accomplished together. We have built a school that flourishes because of its steadfast ethos of scholarship and honor—Areté! For those of you who may not know, that Greek word encompasses so much about this place. It is a word that that roughly translates to “excellence from within” and is our school motto. When you look a little closer, it is tied to the ideals of Plato and Aristotle and achieving one’s full potential. That is the essence of ESA, whether you are a student, teacher or parent—all of us working together to help each other achieve our fullest potential. The other piece that makes this ESA bubble so special is our unwavering commitment to the ideals of the two greatest commandments in the Bible: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself. ESA’s commitment to these ideals is what makes this place so amazing, in essence, its superpower.

   

  We have been able to accomplish so much together because we have built a community that believes in the power of this place to change the trajectory of people’s lives and understands that we are all stewards of this place. Part of that stewardship is generosity, and the generosity of our community has been overwhelming. Over the past 12 years, we have finished the Lafayette campus with our unique and beautiful Enrichment Center and maintenance space. We have laid the groundwork for the Cade campus with a state of the art sewer treatment facility on campus as well as new maintenance facilities. We have upgraded the main gymnasium with a beautiful new floor and added AC to the middle school gym. We have created a master plan for the renewal of the entire Cade campus and begun Phase I of that transformation with the building of the first two of eight new classroom buildings. As exciting as all of this is, it is our continued dedication to hiring the finest faculty and administrative team that makes me most excited for the future.

   

  The process for finding a new head is lengthy (12-18 months), which is why I am announcing so early. The Board of Trustees and I had a fantastic retreat in August at which we discussed all of this. We pledge to keep you all in the loop every step of the way. But for now, and for the next eighteen months, my sleeves will stay rolled up, and my commitment to the success of ESA will remain steadfast. We will finish this first phase of our capital campaign fundraising and continue building the new campus. I will continue to support our Board in their pursuit to find and secure the next Head who will carry on the work that began here nearly 50 years ago.

   

  My commitment to ESA will not change after I retire. Lauren and I will continue to live in Lafayette, and I will be ESA’s greatest cheerleader. Thank you all for your partnership and belief in me—my gratitude is beyond words.

   

  Areté!
  
  

  Paul Baker, PhD
  
  

• Announcing the Search for ESA's Next Head of School

  October 2, 2024

   

   Dear ESA Community,

   

  The Board of Trustees has been informed by Dr. Paul Baker, our Head of School for 12 years and a dedicated member of the ESA community for three decades, of his intention to retire in June 2026.  As we relay this information, we reflect on his invaluable contributions with utmost respect and appreciation.

   

  Dr. Baker's leadership over the past decade has been nothing short of extraordinary. His visionary guidance has not only positioned ESA among the top-ranked schools in Louisiana, but has also laid a strong foundation for our continued success in the years to come. Through challenging times, Dr. Baker has steered our institution with unwavering commitment, fostering a culture of excellence that permeates every aspect of our school life.

   

  More than a headmaster and teacher, Dr. Baker has embodied the very essence of ESA. Our school's greatest strength lies in its ability to cultivate minds that are motivated by love, guided by wisdom, and shaped through habits of excellence. Dr. Baker, with his gentle and kind nature, has been the living exemplar of these ideals, inspiring students and faculty members alike.

   

  As we prepare for this transition, the Board of Trustees remains steadfast in its commitment to upholding ESA's core values. We assure you that the process of selecting our next headmaster will be conducted with the utmost care and diligence. A dedicated committee will be formed to manage this crucial task, supported by a professional consultant to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of potential candidates.

   

  In the coming weeks, we will share more detailed information about the selection process. Until then, I invite you to join me in celebrating Dr. Baker's remarkable contributions to our school community. His legacy will undoubtedly continue to shape ESA's bright future.

   

  Thank you for your continued support and trust in ESA's mission and leadership. 

   

  Warm regards,
  
  Lon Baronne MD, '00 
  Chair, ESA Board of Trustees