Dr. Courteney Coyne Simchak Assumes New Role as Assistant Head of School for Student and Academic Affairs

After eight years as a first grade Partner Teacher at Beauvoir, Dr. Courteney Coyne Simchak is looking forward to stepping into a new role: Assistant Head of School for Student and Academic Affairs.

Dr. Simchak’s appointment was announced in February after a monthslong international search. Her new role began on July 1, 2022.

At Beauvoir, Dr. Simchak has been an integral member of the first grade team since her arrival in 2014. In 2019, she traveled to Peru on a Global Studies grant and brought back a deeper understanding of South American culture and history to share with her students. She spent four years chairing the School's professional development committee, where she helped mentor faculty new and old throughout their journeys at Beauvoir. In addition, Dr. Simchak has served as the faculty representative to Beauvoir’s Board of Governors, and was an integral part of the Strategic Planning Task Force. She looks forward to bringing the Strategic Plan 2025 to life in the years to come.

To celebrate her appointment, Dr. Simchak shared a few of her thoughts about her new role at Beauvoir.

Congratulations on this exciting new position! What do you think you’re most excited about as you step into this new role at Beauvoir?

I am most excited about being able to serve a broader community, beginning with our youngest learners in the ELC all the way through third grade, their families, our faculty and staff, and the Board of Governors. In the past, as a classroom teacher, I have gotten to know one group of children very well over the course of their school year and been able to stay in touch with them throughout their time at Beauvoir and beyond. I’m very excited about the opportunity to know more families, more students, and be able to support our faculty and staff in the important work they do every day.

What was it that led you to pursue an administrative role after so many years teaching?

It was important for me to stay at Beauvoir to continue to give back to a community that has invested in me over the past eight years. I want to have a personal hand in ensuring that Beauvoir remains a leader in early childhood education now and in the future and continue to advance our

FUN FACTS ABOUT DR. SIMCHAK

Favorite Beauvoir Tradition: Christmas Chapel with the first graders.

Favorite Beauvoir Lunch: Butter Chicken.

What’s one thing you should know about her?

Dr. Simchak is bilingual and enjoys speaking to members of the Beauvoir community in both English and Spanish.

mission to instill a lifelong love of learning in our students and broader community. I aspire to support our excellent faculty and staff throughout their careers and believe my greatest potential for contribution is as a member of Beauvoir’s administrative team. I have had an opportunity to work with members of our administration, as a Team Leader, as chair of the professional development committee, as the faculty representative to the governing board, and have been encouraged and inspired by their efforts. I hope to positively contribute to the team in the coming years.

As you step out of the classroom and into this new space, are there any things you think you might miss about being in the classroom, or anything that you hadn’t done before that you’re excited to do now?

I will miss sharing the entirety of the school year with one class of students, but I will continue to seek out opportunities to be involved with children in the little moments of their days. I think some of the most beautiful moments that happen for a classroom teacher are in the quiet comings and goings of children and hearing about their worlds and all that’s going on. I’m excited to continue to form relationships with children, maybe as a classroom buddy, and during arrival and dismissal.

One of the things that I am most excited about is being able to observe more of the teaching and learning happening in our classroom spaces, being able to observe more children learning as I visit classrooms across the school, and being inspired by the wonderful teaching I know is ongoing. As a classroom teacher, I have always loved to step into another person’s classroom, to be able to see what and how they are teaching. I’m thrilled to be able to do more of that in classrooms across the School.

What are your hopes and dreams for Beauvoir’s curriculum over the next five years?

It is my dearest hope that over the next five years, we can strengthen Beauvoir’s curricular identity, that we are able to best understand what and how we teach every child in our school. I would like to affirm that the curricula that we are using are the best for the children in front of us right now and to complete curriculum reviews in the areas of math and literacy to make sure that we are reaching every learner. I want to ensure Beauvoir’s curriculum and instructional practices are responsive to the needs of our students and aligned with Beauvoir’s mission, strategic-vision goals, and ongoing innovation; and to ensure a cohesive, relevant, and intentional curriculum scope and sequence across the school. I hope to empower educators to implement effective, differentiated instructional practices and experience feelings of efficacy; to integrate principles of equity, inclusion, and belonging into our curriculum; and to continue to ensure that our students are prepared for life after Beauvoir.

What are your other big priorities as Assistant Head of School?

Of course, one priority is to support students and their families throughout their time at Beauvoir. I’m excited to usher in our Strategic Plan 2025 and think about the ways that we bring those priorities into the everyday life of the school and make the plan’s priorities accessible to multiple constituent groups. I hope to continue to empower educators and support faculty and staff at every stage of their careers. I am eager to welcome faculty and staff new to Beauvoir, further develop our induction and mentoring program, and strive to support and retain the highest quality faculty and staff. I relish the opportunity to support our veteran faculty and staff through goal setting, observation, and feedback practices. I am also excited to reimagine professional development at Beauvoir to enhance teaching and learning, student learning outcomes, and educator efficacy school wide. I intend to continue to support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that have been started over the past several years. I’m eager to continue to collaborate with curriculum chairs, with team leaders, and with members of our administration to ensure that Beauvoir continues to be a place of extraordinary teaching and learning for decades to come.

What do you see about Beauvoir that is unique in our approach to educating young children and how do you see this role as Assistant Head of School for Student and Academic Affairs fitting into that philosophy?

The most unique thing about Beauvoir is that we are a community solely focused on providing an extraordinary early childhood education to every student. Working with children from the ELC to third grade allows us to be fully invested in their beginnings and the most important part of the work. In my role as Assistant Head of School, I hope to share our beautiful view of childhood and to support the foundation for a lifelong love of learning in every student. ✿