By Elizabeth Miller ’15, Co Editor-in-Chief
If one thing is clear about future Headmaster Tony Jaccaci, it’s that he’s the right fit for Country Day. In an endeavor that began over the summer with 48 candidates, a search consulting firm, a search committee, and a lot of questions, Country Day selected Mr. Jaccaci as Dr. Robert Macrae’s successor as Head of School in mid-October. According to Mr. Merle Black, one of the two faculty members on the search committee, when the committee was informed that the board had unanimously agreed with their decision to offer Mr. Jaccaci the position, they erupted into “cheers and applause,” as he had “wowed the search committee” on each occasion they had interacted.
Over the summer, Country Day began to put together a rather unique method of selecting the next headmaster. A consulting firm was hired to find applicants and to narrow down the choices. On the school’s end of the issue, a search committee led by former Board Chair Julie Fleischmann and current Vice Chair Jon Hall consisting of board members, two teachers, and the cabinet was put together to evaluate these applicants, with the intention of including even more members of the Country Day community as the process progressed. Eventually eight candidates were chosen and interviewed, which narrowed the pool to four, and then three after one withdrew. In early October, these three candidates came to Country Day to meet with a panel of students in leadership positions, the entire faculty, and the search committee. This was an individual approach for finding a new headmaster, as Country Day did its utmost to include as many perspectives as possible, whereas most schools use a far more limited method or even leave the selection almost entirely to the search firm. President of the Board of Trustees Charles “Chip” Pettengill ’79 explained, “Our search consultants were anxious about our search committee,” due to its breadth and varieties of opinion and experience. However Mr. Pettengill strongly believes that this was actually a benefit for the process, as they had many different perspectives and concerns, and the different sections of the committee provided a broad selection of “tremendous insights.”
After this long, difficult, and intensive process, Mr. Jaccaci was Country Day’s first choice for countless reasons. Mr. Black described him as “a real academic” with a global vision of education and a great sense of humor, with the added bonus of having a passion for history. Praise for Mr. Jaccaci continued in the words of Mr. Pettengill, who articulated: “He just has this rare and robust combination of academic brawn and entrepreneurial zeal.”
Mr. Jaccaci has served as the head of school at YK Pao School in Shanghai since 2010, a school that he practically built from the ground up. He explained that when he landed in China, “there really were no blueprints, no plans,” just a basic idea of wanting to create an international school that blended Western and Chinese approaches to education. Before that he taught language and history for 13 years at St. George’s School in Newport, Rhode Island, as well as serving as department head and director of global programs. His life has been “steeped in academics” from a young age, as Mr. Pettengill put it, for his parents were both teachers at Andover School, he attended Harvard University as an undergraduate and received his Master of Law and Diplomacy degree from Tufts University, and has spent his working life in the classroom and administrative office.
The aspect of Country Day that truly drew Mr. Jaccaci to accept the school’s offer was the spirit of community that he sensed when he first visited the campus. He explained that although “a lot of schools talk about community,” few have it in the same sense that Country Day does, and that “set [it] apart.” In addition, he had heard about the school and its “reputation for excellence in education” and was familiar with Cincinnati through a close family friend. He explained, “My wife and my three boys are ready for the next stage in our family’s development. Communication with everyone from [Country Day] only affirmed our decision [to accept Country Day’s offer].”
Mr. Jaccaci looks forward to applying the lessons that he has learned in his 17 years of teaching and administrative experience to Country Day. He wants to bring “an understanding that the world is a big place” and that “changes are coming very quickly,” and he immediately recognized that Country Day is a place that is “open to new ideas,” with its laptop program and innovative approaches to education. He hopes to achieve this by “getting Country Day students to look beyond Cincinnati and the country,” bringing the global perspective that he has obtained at the YK Pao School. Also, he looks forward to sharing his ability to make dumplings, a crucial skill that he has developed during his time in China.
During Mr. Jaccaci’s upcoming visit in January, he wants to focus on getting to know Country Day, its community, and the city of Cincinnati. He has a very good understanding of what he needs to get out of his visit, for he is going through the exact same process at his school in Shanghai as he prepares his successor to take over his position. He especially hopes to learn a lot about Country Day from Dr. Macrae, who he views as “the most recent historian of the school.” In true history teacher fashion, he seeks to understand the school, “where it came from, where it is, and how [he] can help it to where it is going.”
