On Nov. 5, in an email to the GDS community, Head of School Russell Shaw announced that Chris Levy would continue as interim high school principal for a second year, until the end of the 2026-27 school year.
Levy was originally slated to serve as interim principal for only the 2025-26 school year, after Yom Fox departed in June. Shaw said he asked Levy to stay as interim principal to ease the transition period between heads of school. Shaw will depart GDS on June 30, 2026, and the school’s search for a new head of school is in progress.
“Connecting with students and faculty has been something that has been going well,” Levy said in an interview with the Bit. “I’m pretty excited to continue doing that.”
The 2025-26 school year is Levy’s 21st at GDS. Levy previously worked as a science teacher and grade dean at the school. For the last 11 years, Levy has served as the director of enrollment management and financial aid. He currently occupies both the enrollment and principal positions.
“I understand that an extended interim period risks feeling like a pause,” Shaw wrote in the Nov. 5 email. “The most important work of the High School, the daily teaching and learning and rich experiences of community, will of course continue.”
Levy said Shaw discussed the extension about two weeks before the Nov. 5 announcement. Shaw told the Bit he reflected on having both the head of school and principal searches occur at the same time and decided it would be best to stop the search for principal. Shaw also said he has heard positive feedback from students, families, faculty and administrators about Levy.
Shaw, who met with all four head of school finalists over lunch, said there was no input from the finalists about keeping Levy on. “This was entirely my decision,” Shaw said.
“I think that there’s a lot of transition happening in the high school, and it’s good to have some consistency,” senior Sarah Sakr said. “And I think that he’s done a good job, given the nature of his situation.”
“I’m still deciding right now,” Levy told the Bit about taking a permanent position as high school principal. “There’s a lot to love about the high school.” Levy said he would consider his conversations with students and faculty and the initiatives he would need to take on in the coming years in determining whether to apply for the permanent position. “I also have to think about the impact on my family as well, because it does require a lot of time.”
Sophomore Zoe Wolin said it would be best for the next permanent high school principal to have already worked at GDS. “They know the culture, they know how the school runs, they know more of the students. I think it would be so much better in so many aspects,” Wolin said.
Of the last five high school principals, the school hired three internally: Kevin Barr in 2004, Tom Yoder in 2010 as interim principal and C.A. Pilling in 2012. They served for six, two and five years, respectively. All three continued to work at the school after serving as principal.
The school hired the next two recent principals from outside the school: Katie Gibson in 2017 and Yom Fox in 2022. They served for five and three years, respectively, before they each left GDS.
“I’ve been pretty impressed by how Chris Levy has communicated,” Franklin Foer ’92, a GDS parent and former Board member, said. “[He is] somebody who is very much a creature of GDS, as opposed to somebody who’s come from a very different environment and struggled to make sense of all the distinct folkways of the school.”
Admissions engagement coordinator Kathleen Maynard is assisting Levy on the admissions side of his work. “Everyone is stepping up and leaning in in terms of their individual responsibilities,” Levy said. “I’m sure that the job that needs to be done is getting done.”
English teacher Mike Wenthe said he felt both satisfied and excited by Shaw’s announcement. “It’s a combination of relief at not having too many important administrative searches to conduct at once and also confidence in Chris’ abilities to lead us effectively given his long experience in positions of responsibility at the school, his love of the institution and his deep knowledge of students and faculty,” he said.
Arielle Stopak contributed reporting.