The announcement of the next Head of Plymouth Meeting Friends School was made in a letter from the Clerk of the School Committee, Ralph Henninger, mailed to the PMFS community and Friends schools on Friday, January 7, 2011.
Dear Friends,
I am very pleased to announce that the School Committee has appointed Deborah Kost as the next Head of Plymouth Meeting Friends School, as of July 1, 2011. She will succeed Anne Javsicas, who will retire after having completed 22 years as Head of School.
A gifted and seasoned educator and administrator, Deb spent 12 years at Friends Select School, as a teacher, Chair of the math and science departments and Dean of Students. Following that she served as Head of Haddonfield Friends School in New Jersey. She is currently Head of The Janus School, a K-12 school for students with learning differences in Lancaster County. Deb is excited at the opportunity to return to Friends education and to the Philadelphia area.
Deb brings a deep and thorough knowledge of Quaker education as well as broad experience in administration and teaching. Amidst the chorus of praise from those with whom she has worked, a member of her current board described Deb as “an incredibly gifted leader, manager and communicator.” A PMFS teacher said, “She really knows about so many of the aspects of running a school. It made me feel comfortable about the long-term stability of PMFS.” Deb is uniquely suited not only to build upon Anne’s remarkable legacy, but also to guide Plymouth Meeting Friends through the challenges and opportunities of the coming decade. Deb knows how to lead collaboratively, with creativity and spirit, and how to make difficult decisions.
A graduate of the University of Arizona, Deb earned her master’s degree in education at Lehigh University and her principal’s certification from Villanova University. Deb was also the Assistant Director at the Yale University Center for the Study of Learning and Attention Disorders and a recipient of a prestigious Klingenstein Fellowship at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Under Deb’s leadership the Janus School has thrived, completing a new strategic plan, a self-study for accreditation and a successful multi-million dollar capital campaign. As was the case at Haddonfield Friends School, Deb has successfully grown the enrollment at the Janus School. Her experience with community outreach, school-wide budgets, curriculum, property issues, development, financial aid, marketing, working with families, and the process of Quaker committee work have prepared her for the intensive leadership, financial management and organizational skills which the headship of PMFS requires.
Deb and her husband, Mike, have two children, Sarah, aged 27, and Joshua, aged 29, who live in Vermont and Bryn Mawr, respectively. Avid bicyclists, Deb and Mike look forward to cycling on the Schuylkill River Trail again.
The search attracted an extremely deep pool of candidates, including several other sitting heads and administrators of other Friends schools, as well as outstanding candidates from other backgrounds. Throughout this process, Deb’s name continued to rise to the top. We are deeply grateful for the tireless efforts of those who helped in this process. Deb’s appointment concludes a comprehensive six-month search by a 13-member Search Committee, clerked by Tom Hoopes and consisting of two PMFS teachers, a PMFS administrator, several current parents, a number of alumni parents, two members of Plymouth Monthly Meeting, three other Quakers, a co-clerk of the Capital Campaign Committee, and five members of the School Committee.
I am excited about this next chapter in the unfolding history of PMFS. I know all of you will join me in welcoming Deb to PMFS.
Warm regards,
Ralph Henninger
Clerk, School Committee