Board Update: Summer 2025

Magdalena Vial, Board Chair
Read the latest update from our Board Chair.
Before providing an update about the work of the board, I want to express my gratitude to the faculty and staff who made the school year so meaningful for our students and their families. Their commitment to meeting our students where they are and helping them grow from there is to be celebrated, and I’m immensely proud that we had the highest retention rate (90%) among faculty since 2016. This was a key strategic goal for the school in our work with Ted (and team), and we will continue to focus on faculty and staff retention in the year ahead.

Below, is a summary and list of highlights and board work from the past year:
  • In collaboration with Ted, the board reinvented its approach to setting strategic and institutional goals. This process provided us with much greater insight into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges facing the school. These goals were focused in three areas, and every board member participated in at least one of the following subcommittees:
    • Academic Excellence
    • Faculty Retention & Recruitment
    • Facilities
  • For the first time in ten years, the board conducted two externally facilitated retreats – one at a board member’s office and the other in the Creek Campus library. These retreats resulted in greater camaraderie among board members, and provided us with the opportunity to dive more deeply into each of the goal areas delineated above. 
  • As a result of that strategic work, the board voted to purchase 709 Rio Grande, adjacent to the River Campus. This purchase will support deeper development of programming in the arts and technology for middle and high school students. In addition, the purchase will help the institution continue to grow stronger financially and lessen our reliance on leased buildings.
  • With regard to board operations, we updated and re-engaged with Ted and his team in the areas of Finance, Facilities, Fundraising, and Governance. I am proud to add that the school now has formalized its policies, and it has prudent reserves that are being managed professionally.
  • And, lastly, the board said farewell and thanks to Jessica Rio, who served for six years as a trustee and five years as Treasurer. As the parent of an alumna, her fondness for the school and its students was palpable at each board meeting. The board also welcomed three new trustees – Jean Yang and Aileen Yu were introduced to the school through our collaboration with The New Philanthropists, and Ed Muzio is a longtime parent and friend of the school who will bring his experience and wisdom from having a child on all three campuses. Board bios can be found here.
In looking ahead to 2025-2026, we are eager to engage more regularly with the school community and set an inspiring strategy and vision to support the school’s evolution and development. 

With regard to the strategic goals for next year and as our thinking about the needs of the school have evolved, we have reframed two of the goals and added a fourth. For 2025-2026, the board will employ four subcommittees:
  • Academic Excellence has been reframed as Academic Impact so that the work of Ted, his team, and the faculty can be on the academic progress of students.
  • Faculty Retention & Recruitment has been reframed as Talent Recruitment & Retention in order to ensure an equitable focus on employees across the school.
  • Advancement & Capacity has been added as a subcommittee for next year, so that the board focuses its attention on student and family retention, alongside raising funds in support of the school’s vision. Additionally, the board will work with Ted and the team to be sure we are engaging more frequently with students, parents, faculty, and staff as we imagine the school’s future.
  • And, lastly, Facilities will continue as is but will adjust its goals so they are in support of the school’s vision and the evolution of our programs.
Thank you for your support this past year. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we wish you well this summer, and we look forward to seeing you in August.

All the best,

Magdalena Vial
Board Chair
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As a 501(c)3 non-profit school, Headwaters School does not discriminate because of race, color, creed, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other classes protected by federal, state, or local law in its admissions, financial aid, hiring, or board membership processes.