Having endured freezing winters his entire life, Upper School Dean Christopher Jones is looking forward to a California winter.

“You get to a point where that cold really gets in your bones and you kind of can’t thaw out,” Jones said.

In July, Jones moved with his wife and two daughters (7 year old Avery and incoming seventh grader Taylor ’18) from Columbus, Ohio where he was a college counselor and head basketball coach at Columbus Academy. The Academy is a pre-kindergarten through 12 private school that has a student body of about 1,000.

Though his official duties as a college counselor were comparatively limited to those of the deans here, Jones said that the way he got to know his students in Columbus has prepared him for his new role.

While he may not get involved his first year here, Jones would be interested in becoming a part of the basketball program.

“I’ve got to be involved. If not I don’t think I’ll be fulfilled as a person,” Jones said.

Jones has had experience in college admissions at Kenyon College, Williams College and American University, however he has been working at Columbus Academy for the last 10 years.

“I love the idea of having that cross-pollination of all the different disciplines so to see that formalized in one department, that’s a huge step,” he said.