I know good leadership. I spent most of my career at a Fortune 500 Financial Services Company with arguably one of the most talented C-suites in the world. I studied executive leadership in my graduate work. And, truth be told, our Head of School, Bob Carignan, is one of the finest leaders I’ve ever seen. He is the very best of the very best.

Author Jack Gantos writes, “Someone once said anyone can be great under rosy circumstances, but the true test of character is measured by how well a person makes decisions during difficult times.” Well folks, if being Head of School during a global pandemic isn’t a “difficult time” I don’t know what is. And Bob has risen with grace, with grit, with humor to the occasion.

As you are exploring whether the International School of Denver is a good fit for your family, I want you to know a few things about Bob.

• Doing what is best for the kids is our guiding north star. Opening a school in a pandemic for on-campus, in-person learning is nothing less than a Herculean feat. There is nothing easy about it. But, we aren’t in education to do what is easy. We are capable of doing hard things, especially when it is in the best interest of our kids. Doing what is best for our kids is the compass that guides Bob in decision making - and something he has inspired all of us as faculty and staff to rally behind. The kids are our “why” and they are always, always, always worth it.
• Bob leads from the front. Like most great leaders, Bob has assembled a strong and capable leadership team. He is a gifted delegator, allowing the Principals to run their buildings without micromanaging. But something I really admire about Bob is his ability to roll up his sleeves and lead from the front. In a year that is “all-hands-on-deck,” Bob doesn’t just expect his team to do the heavy lifting while he hides behind his desk. He is the first person to unlock the gates and greet parents at the carline in the morning. Bob also is regularly spotted in the Dragon’s Den (our commercial kitchen/cafe), serving kids second helpings, clearing trays, and wiping down tables.
• Transparency, transparency, transparency.  Communication is more important now than ever. A monthly “Pod with Bob” offers the entire community access to both a “state of the union” as well as a chance to ask questions of Bob and his leadership team. Bob also includes a written and/or video piece in our weekly electronic newsletter, World E-News.
• We are not stuck. We are nimble. We are doers. This is a time that would be easy to allow inertia to set in. To be paralyzed by fear and uncertainty. Instead, to tap into the “growth mindset” as an IB World School, we are moving forward. We’ve had to pivot, yes, and think of so many new ways to do things. The result is incredible. We are moving forward with construction on a new Academic Building and home to the Middle School. We are using our campus more efficiently, and have added four new outdoor classrooms. (We have over 300 days of sunshine a year in Colorado so should have done this all along!) We’ve learned how to safely bring a carline physically on campus (yep - sounds crazy but it works!)

Grace, grit, and humor. We all need a little bit more of that right now, especially in our leaders.

I’d love to meet you and learn what is important to your family as you look for schools. Let’s connect. You can reach me at admissions@isdenver.org.