Putney to Welcome New Head of School

Dear Putney Community,

It is with great pleasure that I announce that the Board of Trustees has unanimously voted to appoint Danny O’Brien the tenth head of school. He will start July 1, 2022. Danny currently serves as the head of school at the High Mountain Institute (HMI) in Leadville, CO.

Danny has served as head of school at HMI since 2013, and he comes to Putney with a deep commitment to our fundamental beliefs and extensive experience in school leadership.

While at HMI, he worked with his team to develop innovative educational programs and to make it a welcoming and inclusive home to students and employees of diverse backgrounds, increasing the diversity of students and employees as well as the Board of Trustees. He will lead Putney's efforts to grow into an even more robust vision for progressive education and a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and just community. His many conversations with our students, teachers, parents, trustees, and friends revealed the humility, self-awareness, and determination essential to the work ahead.

At HMI Danny has served as a history teacher, wilderness leader, director of admissions, and as acting head of school. Before coming to HMI, Danny developed his passion for education and for the outdoors while working at Greensboro Day School and the Island School and leading outdoor trips for Camp Pemigewassett, Overland Adventures, and Longacre Expeditions. He has served on multiple independent school accreditation teams and as a consultant to the College Board, and the board of directors of the Lake County Community Foundation and Bright Start Learning Center.

Trustee Elizabeth Eisold Blaylock '80 ably led the Search Committee through an extensive process defining the criteria the group used to screen and assess dozens of candidates, eventually bringing three finalists to campus in September for demanding two-day immersions. More than 500 individual feedback forms were submitted. Respondents were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about Danny.

We look forward to welcoming Danny, his wife Ellie, and their children Vivie and Henry, to Putney. We look forward to having Danny visit before he formally assumes his duties in July. Danny is enthusiastic about connecting with members of the Putney community both on and off-campus as he moves into his role.

We will have time over the coming months to celebrate and thank Emily for her extraordinary service as Head of School for nearly 15 years. We want to thank her here as well for her unwavering support through the search process and as we move into transition.

We are already working with Emily and Danny to ensure a successful leadership transition. Please join me in warmly welcoming Danny and his family to the Putney community.

Regards,

Joshua Laughlin '82, P '21, '23
Chair of the Board of Trustees

Dear Putney Community,

I remember the first time I heard of The Putney School. I was young and idealistic, at the beginning of my career in education. I envied a community that valued work alongside academics, that prioritized laughter and relationships. I admired Putney’s commitment to the farm, the natural world, and the arts as vehicles to help adolescents realize their potential and contribute to the greater good. I wanted all schools to emulate Putney, to understand that students needed real responsibility to achieve great outcomes. “This is it,” I thought. “This is where I want to work.”

It took over twenty years, but I am honored, humbled, and excited to finally reach the Hill. The opportunity to join this community as Putney’s next head of school is a privilege, and I look forward to earning your trust as we work together in service of a profoundly special place. 

I was inspired by my visit to campus last month. All around me, I saw a community committed to Putney’s mission. Faculty and staff are working to imagine inventive and progressive teaching methods that address what students need to excel, as learners today and as future leaders who will grapple with some of the world’s greatest challenges. The percentage of the student body who turned out for an after-school, optional Q&A session with a head of school candidate might be unparalleled anywhere. Everyone I met during my visit understands the responsibility they have to make the Putney community sing; this thriving community also lifts the individuals who give so much to it.

Putney is clearly in a position of strength and can take tremendous pride in all that it has accomplished. At the same time, if we are to live Putney’s fundamental beliefs, there will always be work to do. I heard loudly and clearly, for example, the need to continue to make progress in living out Putney’s commitment to anti-racism and to ensuring all people who enter campus see this school as a home. Efforts to perfect a student-centered progressive educational program will never be finished. Most immediately, all constituents are asking how to rebuild community cohesion after the disruption of the pandemic. I have not accepted this position, however, because of the work Putney has to do. I am thrilled to join this community because of what you are. 

My wife, Ellie, and our elementary-aged children, Vivie and Henry, are also excited to relocate to Putney. We will be within driving distance of our extended families, and have deep roots in Vermont. I went to college here and have slept many a night on the Long Trail. Ellie and I got married here, and we all feel most at home exploring the beauty of the natural world.

I would like to thank the search committee and the Board for leading such a thoughtful process that afforded me the opportunity to meet so many members of the Putney community. Thank you to all of the faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, and trustees for being so generous with their time and so open to sharing their perspectives. I would be remiss as well if I did not thank Emily and Gordon Jones for their service to Putney. Emily has led Putney admirably for 15 years, reinforcing the school's position as a leader in progressive education and setting us up well for the work that is to come.

I look forward to beginning the process of learning from and getting to know more of the Putney community. Until we meet again, I wish you a productive, joyous, and safe year.

Warmly,

Danny O’Brien