Letter from the Board & Search Committee

Dear USN community,

We are pleased to announce Amani Reed as the next Director of University School of Nashville.

The past six months have been a whirlwind as our community has come together in a quest to identify our next leader. We have engaged in introspection and assessment. We have shown the best that our school has to offer while seeking the best for our students. Through the guidance of international search firm RG175 and the work of our 11-member Search Committee, this process has been classic USN — transparent and inclusive. We touched as many constituencies as possible, including some of our youngest students and most seasoned alumni. We considered a broad range of exemplary leaders in education from schools across the country and abroad, interviewed nine semi-finalists, and invited four finalists to visit our campus. Sharing the wide-ranging perspectives of students, parents, faculty, staff, past board chairs, and alumni, more than 700 surveys were completed during the candidates’ 2.5-day visits over four weeks. Your input and reflection about each candidate have been vital to this process.

It is not lost on us that Amani joins USN from being Head of The School at Columbia University and studied at Teachers College, where founder and first director of Peabody Demonstration School Thomas Alexander created a progressive undergraduate experience to shape future educators. A century later, this moment makes full circle our fondness for Columbia blue, PDS/USN’s surviving tie to the old University of Nashville. We also celebrate Amani’s historic appointment as the 11th PDS/USN Director, marking the first time a person of color will lead our school.

Amani is no stranger to USN, having first set foot at 2000 Edgehill Avenue over 20 years ago and again in 2015 as part of his professional growth and exploration of thought leadership. He brings to USN strong experience, having worked in academic and administrative roles at highly regarded independent schools: University of Chicago Laboratory Schools in Chicago, Lakeside School in Seattle, and Sewickley Academy in Pennsylvania as well as having served in a variety of roles for several local, regional, and national independent school associations. Throughout his 24-year career in education, he has explored and facilitated partnerships among independent schools, universities, and communities and emphasized innovation in academics. Amani is a leader who will continue to move USN forward in modeling best educational practices and guiding students; advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion; and serving the Nashville community. With his knowledge and experience, Amani will strategically carry our school forward in the work at the core of our mission. The high academic standards of USN resonate with Amani, who also respects the significance of our deep connection to the Nashville community and values our place as a national leader among independent schools. Please read more about his academic credentials and background on page 5.

Thank you, Search Committee, for a job well done. We will immediately pivot to form a transition committee of administrators, faculty, parents, alumni, and trustees. Although he will officially assume the office overlooking the Edgehill Lawn on July 1, 2022, we anticipate welcoming the Reed family to Nashville and into the USN community in the coming weeks as he and his wife, Jules, begin their move with their son, Taye, who will join us as a senior next fall.

We now look forward in the coming months to the opportunities to recognize and thank Director Vince Durnan for all that he has led and accomplished over the past two decades at University School of Nashville.

Thank you for your continued commitment to USN and investment in this process to move our school forward.

Sincerely,

Ivanetta Davis Samuels ’86, Board of Trustees President

Tina Modi, Director Search Committee Co-Chair

Brett Sweet, Director Search Committee Co-Chair