News
Announcing the School's Tenth Headmaster
Posted March 1, 2012
March 1, 2012
Dear Students, Parents, Faculty, Staff, Alumni and Friends of St. Anselm’s Abbey School,
On behalf of the Board of Trustees of St. Anselm’s Abbey School, it is my great pleasure to announce the appointment of Mr. William (Bill) Crittenberger as our new Headmaster, effective July 1, 2012.
Mr. Crittenberger is a strong and energetic leader who impressed the Board with his wisdom and vision for the school, and who brings a great deal of academic experience to this position. Currently he is serving as the Assistant Head of School for Institutional Advancement at the Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, Maryland. Prior to his position at Stone Ridge, Mr. Crittenberger served in a variety of roles at leading independent schools in the Washington metropolitan area, including serving as the Dean of Studies and Upper School Head at the Landon School and Academic Dean and Acting Head of School at the Bullis School. Throughout his career Mr. Crittenberger has been a highly regarded classroom teacher in both Math and History. He has taught Advanced Placement (AP) Government and Politics, AP US History, AP Statistics and AP Calculus AB, among others. Additionally, he has been a coach, has moderated numerous co-curricular activities and has been considered a leader in each of the school communities he has served. With 28 years of education experience and degrees from Johns Hopkins, Yale and George Washington Universities, Mr. Crittenberger understands the importance of maintaining the strong academic reputation of St. Anselm’s Abbey School and enhancing its stature as one of the premier schools for boys in the Washington Metropolitan area.
Throughout the interview process, Mr. Crittenberger has demonstrated a commitment to our unique Benedictine ethos and traditions and looks forward to working with Fr. Peter, Fr. Michael, Abbot James and the entire monastic community.
Mr. Crittenberger is a committed Catholic and a devoted family man. He lives in Bethesda with his wife of 22 years, Tracy, and their four children: Lee (age 20), Willie (18), Tommy (15), and Dale (14). Mrs. Crittenberger graciously joined us for part of her husband's visit to St. Anselm's during the finalist stage, when she was able to meet with several current parents, administrators, and students. We are pleased to welcome the entire Crittenberger family as the newest members of the St. Anselm's community.
Mr. Crittenberger’s appointment concludes an extensive national search headed by Mr. Marco Clark, a member of the St. Anselm’s Abbey School Board of Trustees and current President & CEO at Bishop McNamara High School. The process of identifying our new headmaster began with the formation of a ten-member Search Committee. The Search Committee collected data from surveys administered to the faculty, parents, students, alumni and alumni parents as well as personal interviews and group listening sessions. After reviewing more than 45 candidate profiles, the Search Committee advanced five semi-finalists. At the semi-finalist and finalist stages, Mr. Crittenberger had the opportunity to meet with current students, parents, faculty, staff, administrators, alumni, and the Board of Trustees, and the feedback from each group was invaluable to the Search Committee and the Board in their deliberations. The Search Committee’s recommendation of Mr. Crittenberger to the Board of Trustees was a unanimous one. We wish to thank the members of the Committee who worked so diligently during the past several months on this important process: Mr. Clark, Fr. Michael Hall, ’56 (Trustee) and Fr. Peter Weigand (Trustee) from the monastic community, Mr. Hal DeLuca and Mrs. Hajnalka Enzel from the faculty, Sr. Mary Bader (Trustee) and Mr. Chris Abell from the local academic community, Mrs. Ines Bustillo (Trustee), a parent of two graduates, and Dr. David Harnett, ’58 and Dr. Joe Chalmers, ’60 (Trustee) from the higher education community. The Board of Trustees would also like to extend our gratitude to our search consultant, Dr. Richard Jung of Education Access Strategies, LLC. Finally, we wish to thank our current Headmaster, Mr. Louis Silvano, for his exceptional service and his gracious assistance in this process.
Please help me to welcome Mr. Bill Crittenberger and his family as they join the St. Anselm’s Abbey School community. I ask that you continue to keep in your prayers the leadership of St. Anselm’s and especially Mr. Crittenberger as he endeavors to direct St. Anselm’s Abbey School towards a wonderful future.
Sincerely,
Stephen Kinnaird, ’80
Chairman, Board of Trustees
