Head Search
General Employment Information November 9, 2011 Dear Members of the Staten Island Academy Community: It is with great pleasure that I write to inform you that Albert R. Cauz has accepted the invitation of the Board of Trustees to become Staten Island Academy's next Head of School. Albert will join us at the conclusion of the current academic year. The Board voted to extend an invitation to Albert at a meeting earlier this week, at which it received the recommendation of the Search Committee. Both the Board vote and the Search Committee recommendation were unanimous. Albert Cauz was the resounding first choice. Albert’s appointment culminates a year-long search process. The Board initiated that process by appointing the Search Committee, consisting of trustees, faculty, parents and alumni, soon after Diane Hulse announced that she had decided to retire at the end of the 2011-2012 academic year. Guided by the nationally-recognized educational search consultants, Gregory Floyd and Associates, Inc., the Search Committee conducted an exhaustive search process, involving detailed consideration of scores of candidates from a broad and diverse candidate pool. The Search Committee ultimately narrowed the field to three extremely qualified finalists, each of whom made a two-day visit to the Academy. Those visits involved meetings and interviews with students, faculty, parents, staff, alumni and trustees, as well as the Search Committee. After those visits, Albert emerged as the overwhelming favorite of each and every constituent group. Albert truly embodies all of those qualities, and more. He currently serves as the Head of School at the Baldwin School of Puerto Rico. During his tenure, Baldwin has experienced substantial enrollment growth and a dramatic improvement of its facilities, including the construction of a new performing arts center. Our site visit to Baldwin last month confirmed beyond any doubt that Albert has earned the admiration, respect and loyalty of the entire Baldwin community. Faculty and staff respect him for his intelligence and his academic accomplishments. Students and parents embrace him for his warmth, empathy and humor. More than one community member shed tears in our presence at the prospect of Albert's departure. Likewise, all of Albert's references endorsed him without qualification. Albert brings nearly thirty years of experience in all facets of education. He has served as Head of School at the Webb School in Tennessee, where his many accomplishments rival his impressive record at Baldwin. Albert also served in many capacities at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, including Residential Dean, Spanish teacher and coach of the baseball, football and basketball teams; at the Cate School in California, where he was language department chair; and at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut, where he taught Spanish. Albert holds a B.A. from Boston College and an M.A. in Spanish literature from Middlebury College. He was raised in Waterville, Maine, where his father was a professor at Colby College. Along with Albert, we are thrilled to welcome his wife, Bridget McCabe, who holds B.A., M.D., and M.P.H. degrees from Harvard, who is a pediatrician by training, and whose career focus is public health. We also are delighted to welcome Bridget and Albert's son, Sebastian, a bright and engaging second grader. The selection of a new Head is a point of demarcation in the life of a school. It is the most important responsibility of the Board of Trustees, a responsibility that the Board of the Academy has exercised but sixteen times in its 127-year history. The search for a new Head is a time for self-evaluation, a time to think seriously and proactively about what we are and what we can be, both as an educational institution and as a school community. Success depends on constructive, thoughtful engagement in the search process by the entire school community -- students, parents, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni and trustees. Measured against that standard, our search process has been a true success. Your level of engagement was extraordinary, a fact that all of our finalists emphasized repeatedly to us during their visits. The Board of Trustees extends heartfelt thanks to the entire Academy community for your many insightful contributions to the search process. A successful search likewise requires a dedicated and passionate search committee. Our Search Committee, co-chaired by Joe Dezio and Dina Marie Filippini, far exceeded that call of duty. The committee members demonstrated an absolutely uncompromising determination to identify the optimal Head, the one individual uniquely suited to lead us to be the best that we can be. In identifying Albert Cauz, the Committee has achieved that objective. The Board of Trustees is deeply grateful to Joe and Dina, as well as Search Committee members Roger Ahern, Victor Avis, Vincent Dugan, Denise Dutton, Tomas Moráles, Ph.D., Lea Prendergast, Bharath Sithian, Colleen Kelleher Sorrentino and Rachel Ward, Ph.D., for their extraordinary commitment and vision. Of Staten Island Academy, Albert says, “I hold the school in highest regard, not only because of its strong sense of identity and purpose, or its emphasis on the intellectual development of good young people, or even the richness of its extracurricular programs, but especially for the warmth and support it seems to extend each and every one of its students at one of the most critical junctures in their intellectual and moral development.” As we anticipate Albert’s arrival in July, we will have many opportunities to celebrate Diane Hulse and to express to her our gratitude for a decade of outstanding leadership and service. Staten Island Academy has thrived during Diane’s tenure. The Academy that Diane leaves is a far stronger and better institution than the Academy that she found upon joining us in 2002. Above all else, Diane’s commitment to excellence made it possible for us to recruit her ideal successor. We look forward to working with Diane and Albert to accomplish a smooth and seamless transition. We believe that, in Albert Cauz, we have found a special human being and leader to build upon Diane's legacy of excellence. Best regards, Caroline Diamond Harrison ’82
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