Vance Wilson
Vance worked at four independent schools before becoming the Head of St. Albans School in Washington, DC, where he served for 19 years.
Vance Wilson began his career as an English teacher and coach, and then in the course of his forty-four years in independent education has been a dorm supervisor, department head, dean of faculty, division head, associate head, and Head of School. Prior to becoming the head of St. Albans School in 1999, he taught at four independent schools and two colleges and evaluated the Klingenstein Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. He also served on the Academic Services Committee of NAIS. He co-authored two highly acclaimed books on curriculum reform and a study of integration in southern private schools. He is a graduate of Yale College and has graduate degrees from Trinity College, Dublin, and the University of Virginia.
When Vance Wilson arrived at St. Albans in 1999, the school was recovering from a nationally publicized dispute, was in serious debt, and had an endowment of $10 million. During his 19 years as head, the yield on St. Albans admissions, on average, grew to 70% in the Upper School and 90% in the Lower, and the numbers increased 10% with an acceptance rate comparable to highly selective colleges. The financial aid portion of the budget grew to 27%, and at the same time a program for students entering from underserved areas was endowed at $2 million. The school raised $180 million in his 19 years and the endowment grew to $90 million. New facilities included the Cornerstone Garden, a new academic building, renovated gyms and dorms, and a $45 million athletic complex. During his tenure Wilson had been president of the International Boys School Coalition and led conferences on four continents, served on multiple boards and associations, and was the recipient of a number of awards having to do with teaching and leadership.
In 2019 with Rick Melvoin he founded Strategic School Leadership, a consulting firm that “serves school leaders so that school may thrive.” He worked with Fed Kiel and Kelly Garramone of KRW International to introduce the Return on Character Leadership Assessment to independent School leaders. He has worked directly with the heads of schools at Albuquerque Academy, Deerfield, Gateway School of New York City, Punahou, and St. Bernard’s; he has worked on strategic plans with Montessori School of Raleigh and Salisbury School. His variety of projects include advising the new head at Girls Preparatory school, leading a board retreat at Montessori School of Raleigh, a faculty workshop at Roxbury Latin School, and a yearlong Vision statement project at Seabury Hall. He led the search committee at St. Thomas Church School, and with Rick Melvoin and Margarita Curtis did a study of open inquiry at Trinity School in New York. He is currently on the board of trustees at Browning School in New York.
Testimonials
“In my work as a consultant, I have known and worked with hundreds of Heads of independent schools. Vance Wilson and Rick Melvoin have been among the very best school leaders I have ever met. They have vast experience in successfully running two complex, powerful schools. Important as experience is, that is not the only strength that they bring to the table. They are both sage, thoughtful, calm men who understand the moral dimensions of leadership, and who have the ability to combine strategic thinking with a deeply felt sense of mission. There isn’t a school leader anywhere who couldn’t benefit from the analytic skills and wisdom of Rick Melvoin and Vance Wilson.”
Dr. Michael Thompson
Bestselling Author & International Speaker
“I have worked closely with both Rick and Vance, and have always appreciated their deep understanding of school culture and the ways that Heads must maintain a school’s traditions while also addressing complex contemporary concerns. They are outstanding mentors and I have relied on them for wisdom about my own role as a Head and also about best practices for working with a board of trustees, leading a faculty, and managing the financial challenges of my school. And they always make me laugh, which is no small thing sometimes!“
Sarah Pelmas
Head of School and O’Donnell Family Chair, Winsor School
“I could not imagine two more distinguished and accomplished independent school leaders. Both Vance Wilson and Rick Melvoin demonstrated their tremendous leadership skills, their keen strategic thinking, and their deep-seated values through their combined 44 years of service at Heads of two of the nation’s top schools – St. Albans and Belmont Hill – respectively leading each institution through a period of unprecedented success. Having gotten to know both men, I can confidently state that any school leader, board, or administrative team would benefit from their wisdom, guidance, and counsel.”
Robert Musselwhite
Board Chair of St. Albans School 2018-2020
“The team of Rick Melvoin and Vance Wilson represent a wealth of experience and insight in successful leadership of complex educational communities on a variety of levels–academic, intellectual, operational, governance, emotional, spiritual, athletic and cultural. These two individuals that over the years have demonstrated a deep commitment to developing sophisticated and balanced educational programs that encourage the emotional, character and intellectual development of students. As two past presidents of the International Boys’ Schools’ Coalition their experiences and contacts are extensive global and nuanced. Their experience in the development of boys is unparalleled. The duo provide a versatility in organizational leadership styles and approaches that is ideal for school leaders charged with the responsibility of building a culture of teamwork and cohesion. As a colleague and “unofficial” client over the past twenty years, I cannot image a better team to guide and mentor the leadership team—board and management—of a school community during these challenging times.”
David Armstrong
Former Head of Landon School
Executive Director of the International Boys’ School Coalition
“After taking over as an interim head of school at the beginning of COVID and having to navigate the complexities of a divided community, I could not imagine working with a more caring and understanding mentor and coach than Vance Wilson. Knowing there was no playbook for what lay ahead, I relied on Vance’s values and experience to shepherd me and our school community through challenging times. His whimsy and good cheer was always a welcome respite, and his concern for the health and wellness of our faculty and staff was just as important to him as the day-to-day running of the school. Vance was and remains my ballast, and I will forever be indebted to this great leader.”
Evan Moraitis
Assistant Head of School, St. Bernard’s School
“Vance Wilson is an outstanding educator, advisor and counselor. He deals comfortably with faculty, staff, trustees and board chairs. As he began his work with our school and head, he developed a deep understanding of our school’s history, culture and needs. His is not a cookie cutter formula. By combing his knowledge of our school with his own vast experience, he gave advice that was both sagacious and immediately useful. In difficult times, he maintains a clear understanding and focus on what is important and helps advance the school while deflecting the focus from emotion and noise.”
Thomas L. Kempner, Jr.
Chair of the Board of Trustees
St. Bernard’s School, New York City
Each Day: A Veteran Educator’s Guide to Raising Children
In vibrant prose, Z. Vance Wilson offers insight to anyone, whether parent or teacher, responsible for guiding children on the joyous, difficult, and ever-unpredictable path to becoming their best selves intellectually, socially, morally, and spiritually. With judiciousness, good will, and humor (all sharpened as Head of a leading boys’ school in Washington, D.C.), Wilson puts forth a clear set of principles, both practical and idealistic, for adults directing children toward wisdom and joy. An award-winning novelist, Wilson draws on colorful tales from his childhood in the American South; rousing episodes in history; and a remarkable assortment of poems, novels, and biblical readings, to illustrate the challenges children face and to illuminate the ways adults may best reach and teach them.
“As Headmaster, Z. Vance Wilson thinks carefully about what boys must understand about life if they are to become whole, morally and intellectually. He leans against the ephemeral values that surround his students and tries to communicate what is real and enduring. He’s their last chance, in a sense, before they’re buried by college and adult life.…Wilson writes in the knowledge that his voice will echo in memory for his boys. As his title conveys, it’s a message conveyed by Headmaster, and heard by the boys, ‘each day.'”
–From the Foreword by David Ignatius, best-selling author and award-winning Washington Post columnist
“Imagine an educator in this self-seeking age who cares about something more important than test scores, college admission, and financial success. Imagine an educator in this cynical age who talks about God, heroism, and self-sacrifice. Z. Vance Wilson is a voice crying in the wilderness of an age in which young people are starved for meaning and thirsty for purpose. Each Day: A Veteran Educator’s Guide to Raising Children is a book every parent and teacher should read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest.”
–F. Washington Jarvis, Headmaster Emeritus of the Roxbury Latin School and director of the Educational Leadership and Ministry Program at Yale Divinity School
Taking Measure
Taking Measure provides the perspectives on independent school curricula of education experts Stephen C. Clem, Karin H. O’Neil, and Z. Vance Wilson. A useful guide for most schools, the book operates under a broad definition of the word “curriculum,” which includes all aspects of a student’s growth and learning process. From athletics, to leadership exposure, to multiculturalism, nothing is left out of the scope of the curricular focus in Taking Measure. The book stresses certain values over others, and, eighteen years later, it is interesting to take measure of how this book may have impacted today’s prominent educational values.
Paths to New Curriculum
Paths to New Curriculum is a useful guide for how to review and update a school’s curriculum. Stephen C. Clem and Z. Vance Wilson recognize the possible barriers to a new course of study and provide schools and administrators with the tools to overcome these obstacles. Following the path laid out by Clem and Wilson will result in a re-energized curriculum that will positively impact the educators, the community, and, most importantly, the students.
The Quick and The Dead
Opening with quick and intense action that does not let up, The Quick and the Dead is an emotional journey following a devoutly religious family from the American South. The Quick and the Dead focuses on the religious divide between an ardently Christian father and his two sons, Luke and Will. Each maintaining their own unique relationship with the family and with religion, the three men consequently undergo three powerful, different journeys in life. Having grown up a Southern Baptist, Wilson injects his Alabama experience into the novel, giving it an authentic Southern feel that leaves the reader questioning, wondering, and wanting more.
They Took Their Stand: The Integration of Southern Private Schools
Wilson’s They Took Their Stand is a thought-provoking discussion of integration efforts in southern private schools from 1963 to 1983 that chronicles the successes, failures, and progress made in integrating schools belonging to the Mid-South Association of Independent Schools. As the opening line of the introduction points out, “This book ends at the beginning.” In other words, although much progress had been made by the time of the book’s publication, the book itself is a call to action, an attempt to make its audience realize that integration must be an active effort, not only on the part of the school, but also on the parts of students and parents. They Took Their Stand urges everyone to take a stand to wipe out segregation in southern private schools.