Although Liz Resnick will only fill the position of head of Upper School for one year, she has already made one permanent policy change: eliminating styrofoam cups from the faculty room.
However, Resnick said that will likely be the only official policy change she makes, as in the coming year she will be focusing more on the day-to-day aspects of the role.
“I don’t think it’s my job to create a lot of new things that I won’t be responsible for seeing through to fruition,” Resnick said. “That being said, I think there are conversations that we’re in the middle of that should continue even though I’m not the permanent upper school head.”
Resnick replaced former Head of Upper School Audrius Barzdukas, who announced in April that he accepted a position as head of school at the Poly Prep Day School in Brooklyn, New York.
“I think anyone who does this job brings a little something different to it,” Resnick said. “Mr. Barzdukas was amazing in his way and hopefully, I will do a good job being a very different person in the job.”
President Rick Commons asked Resnick to fill in as Interim Head of Upper School in mid-March. He said her five years as Director of Upper School at Crossroads School was a factor in her selection for the position.
“I love working with her,” Commons said. “She’s funny, warm, smart, wise and loves students and teachers and school, so she’s ideal.”
Resnick was previously the Director of Studies, and said her experience in that position allowed her to become familiar with every member of the faculty. As Director of Studies, she sat in on many classes and gave department heads feedback on their curriculums to improve them.
“I have seen every returning faculty teacher teach,” Resnick said. “There’s a level of trust that I hope I have with my colleagues because they’ve already worked with me on some level.”
Resnick received her undergraduate degree in comparative government from Harvard University, her master’s degree from Dartmouth University, and a Masters in Business Administration from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, according to an email sent by Commons last spring.
As a member of the search committee for the new head of the upper school, Resnick said she will help school administrators determine the best candidate for the job.
“As a committee, the first thing we did was try to identify what we care about and the traits we believe the upper school head should embody,” Resnick said.
