A Note From Our Board Chair
I’m writing with an important update on the leadership transition we announced a few weeks ago. As you’ve been preparing to send your children back to campus, the Board of Trustees has been hard at work interviewing a national pool of extraordinary leaders to be our Interim Head of School.
Throughout this process, the Board has kept the well-being, support, and overall joy of TBS students at the center of every decision. Having interviewed a set of finalist candidates, we identified a leader who is in line with our mission and values, and who will lead equally with both heart and mind.
After careful deliberation, I’m proud to share that the Board of Trustees has unanimously selected Rachel E. Skiffer as The Berkeley School’s Interim Head of School.
From our earliest conversations, Rachel demonstrated both a genuine connection to TBS’s mission and a deep respect for the community she will be joining. She is an experienced educator and school leader who will bring her intellectual curiosity, sound judgment, diligence, empathy, and calm to TBS from day one. During the interview process, Rachel asked thoughtful questions about our students and teachers, our history and culture, and what families value most about a TBS education. The Board came away confident that her thoughtfulness and care will make her an outstanding leader for TBS, and a steady, present partner to your family this year.
Rachel brings more than 20 years of experience as an educator and independent school leader. Most recently, she served as Head of School at Head-Royce School, where she guided strategic and organizational renewal, increased enrollment, expanded support for neurodiverse learners, and led a major campus expansion. She was Head of School at Khan Lab School, a nonprofit K–12 school affiliated with Khan Academy that combines mastery-based learning with mixed-age classrooms. Prior to that, Rachel served as the Dean of Policy and Strategic Planning at Phillips Academy.
Born and raised in San Francisco and educated in both independent and public schools, Rachel has deep roots in Bay Area education. Her work has centered on creating communities where students are known well, educators are supported, and families are meaningful partners in helping children grow.
As we transition to this new chapter in the history of The Berkeley School, it’s important to highlight that TBS will remain the school you know, built on the same values and the same commitment to your children that brought you here. There are opportunities ahead of us this year that will see us grow our TK-8 enrollment, increase our investment in a supportive learning environment, and tell the story of what makes TBS so vital to the East Bay and beyond. Our faculty, staff, and full Board of Trustees are excited to have Rachel as a partner, and we all look forward to the work ahead.
I want to thank Mitch Bostian for 17 years of leadership at TBS. As I said a few weeks ago, this school would not be the kind, welcoming, committed place it is today without him. He has positively impacted the lives of countless TBS students and families. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we honor Mitch for his unwavering love for TBS.
I also want to thank Orpheus Crutchfield and Dr. Ara Brown from our partners at Strategenius, a respected national search firm, who led this process with swiftness, care, and wisdom.
Please see below for a note from Rachel as she begins her tenure as Interim Head of School. We’ll share more details in the coming days, including opportunities to meet her in person once the school year begins.
As always, I welcome your comments or questions at chair@theberkeleyschool.org.
With gratitude, and on behalf of the entire Board of Trustees,
Jason Kalogiros
Board Chair
The Berkeley School
A Note From Our Interim Head of School
I am honored to be joining The Berkeley School as Interim Head of School.
What stood out to me throughout my conversations with the Board and the members of the professional community I was fortunate to meet was the deep affection people have for this school and the seriousness with which TBS approaches the education of its students. I heard about a community where children are truly known, where curiosity is encouraged, where teachers care deeply about their craft, and where relationships matter. Those qualities drew me to TBS.
I am also joining the community with great respect for the school’s history and for the people who have shaped it. Seventeen years of leadership is an extraordinary legacy, and I am grateful to Mitch Bostian for his years of care and commitment to TBS. Stepping into a community during a transition comes with a particular responsibility: to listen, to learn, and to understand.
That is how I plan to begin.
During my first weeks at TBS, I will spend much of my time with students, faculty and staff, and families. I want to hear what you treasure about the school, what is working well, your challenges, and what you believe our students need from us now.
You will see me around campus, and I hope you will introduce yourself when you do. We will also create more structured opportunities to connect and talk. I look forward to getting to know you.
Most of all, I am looking forward to the first day of school. Leadership transitions understandably receive a great deal of attention, but the real work of a school happens every day in classrooms, on playgrounds, around lunch tables, and in the relationships between students and their teachers. That is the work I am most eager to join.
Thank you for welcoming me to The Berkeley School. I look forward to seeing you on campus.
Warmly,
Rachel E. Skiffer
Interim Head of School
The Berkeley School
