Dear San Francisco Day School Families and Friends:

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I am delighted to announce that John Lin will be the next head of San Francisco Day School, beginning July 1, 2004. John is an experienced educator and a warm, inspiring and dynamic leader. He enthusiastically supports the five cornerstones of the school's Mission, and we are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead for the school with John at the helm.

John is currently the Upper School Head and an instructor in English at The Fessenden School in Newton, Massachusetts, where he has been since 2000. John has a wealth of experience at independent schools, including positions at Middlesex School in Concord, MA, Thacher School in Ojai, CA, and Phillips Academy in Andover, MA. He has been an English instructor, dean of students, assistant head, and baseball, tennis and crew coach. John was also an instructor in English at Tsinghua University in Beijing. John has a B.A. in English from Carleton College in Northfield, MN, an M.A. in English from the Bread Loaf School of English, Middlebury College, and a Master of Philosophy in English Studies from Worcester College, Oxford University, England. John is married to Marilee Chang, who is also an educator, and they are the parents of two young sons. In his spare time, John enjoys photography, fly fishing, playing violin and guitar, and backpacking.

I want to thank the Search Committee - George Hume, the chair, and the members: Gordon Atkinson, Margaret Charnas, Jim Coulter, Randi Fisher, David Friedman, Sheila Gadsden, Evelyn Manies, Su-Moon Paik and Jason Stone - for their extraordinary efforts in the process of selecting John as our next head of school. Under George's leadership, the committee undertook a thorough, deliberate and exhaustive nationwide search. There was tremendous interest in our head of school position, and it was gratifying to enter the final phase of the search with four finalists of extraordinarily high caliber. Throughout, the committee worked earnestly and thoughtfully to determine the best match for our school. I know I speak for the entire school community in thanking George and the committee for their extraordinary service to the school.

I also want to thank the entire school community for its active participation in the search process. Each of our finalist candidates met with administrators, faculty, parents and students, and the input you provided was of tremendous assistance to the search committee. Your thoughtful participation in this process demonstrates the remarkable spirit of community that is at the core of what makes San Francisco Day School the very special place we all know it to be.

Finally, I want to thank Jim Telander for his wise counsel throughout the search process. For the past 12 years, Jim has exemplified the school's values of compassion, integrity and responsibility. His record of accomplishment placed the school in an excellent position as we undertook the search for a new head. The Board of Trustees will work closely with Jim and his superb administrative team to ensure that the transition to John's leadership is smooth.

We look forward with great anticipation to John's arrival at the school next summer, and will keep you apprised of the plans to welcome John and his family to our community.

Sincerely yours,



Marla J. Miller
President, Board of Trustees