St. Andrew’s Episcopal School Appoints Sean Murphy Next Head of School

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Board of Trustees of St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is pleased to announce the appointment of Sean Murphy as the next Head of School effective July 1, 2013.

“We are delighted that Sean has accepted the position”

“We are delighted that Sean has accepted the position,” said Catherine Miller, Chair of the Board of Trustees. “Sean’s devotion to Episcopal identity and Episcopal education makes him a perfect fit to strengthen the traditions of worship, community, inclusion, and excellence at St. Andrew’s. His record of improvement at the schools where he has been ensures that he is well poised to inspire our community to be an even more exceptional, student-centered school.”

Sean has more than two decades of experience as a teacher, administrator, and, most recently, as Head of School at Palmer Trinity, an Episcopal school in Miami, Florida. A native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sean earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire and then returned to the Southwest to begin his career at his alma mater, Albuquerque Academy, working there for 15 years as a teacher, coach, Dean of Students, and Upper School Head. During this time, Sean acquired a Masters of Arts degree in Great Books from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2000, Sean joined Oldfields School in Maryland for four years as an Associate Head of School and Interim Head of School, where he oversaw all the internal programs of the school including academics, athletics, student life, finances, and facilities.

During his eight-year tenure at Palmer Trinity, Sean increased faculty diversity, quality, and morale, along with assembling a leadership team of outstanding senior administrators. Always interested in programmatic excellence, Sean increased outreach and service projects, established unique environmental learning programs, enhanced the depth and breadth of the diversity initiatives, and increased academic standards at the school. Sean’s improvements yielded increases in the number and the caliber of applicants for enrollment. Additionally, he created an extensive internal and external communications program, established a mature development office, implemented financial sustainability programs and guided the production of a master site plan for the school.

Sean and his wife, Katrina Visser Murphy, a career English teacher and graduate of Stanford University and University of New Mexico, have two children who will both attend St. Andrew’s next year. Sean and Katrina have been waiting for a special opportunity in the Southwest, as they have longed to get back to this region.

“This is a very exciting time in the life of St. Andrew’s and we are grateful to our wonderful Search Committee, search consultant Margaret Huling-Bonz, and our faculty, staff, students, and families who helped us with this very important process,” said Catherine Miller. “We are also grateful to Lucy Nazro, our Head of School for 32 years, who built St. Andrew’s Episcopal School into a place of such stature and heart that a wide range of diverse, highly qualified candidates in a national search all hoped for a chance to lead it.”

“I feel honored for the opportunity to walk through the wide doors of the great school Lucy Nazro has so lovingly and generously cared for,” said Sean Murphy. “She leaves a great legacy, and I am proud to carry it forward.”

Sean’s formal installation as St. Andrew’s Head of School will be scheduled for fall 2013.

About St. Andrew’s

Founded in 1952, and celebrating its 60^th anniversary this year, St. Andrew’s Episcopal School is a college preparatory school with more than 850 students in grades one through twelve and 165 faculty and staff. St. Andrew’s mission is to provide an enriched academic program within a Christian environment, emphasizing the fulfillment of each student’s potential. The Lower and Middle School campus is located at 1112 West 31^st Street. The Upper School Campus, serving grades 9-12, is located at 5901 Southwest Parkway. For more information, visit www.sasaustin.org.