Head of School Matt Levinson’s plans to leave in June will make next year a period of transition for University Prep.

Levinson announced on Nov. 30 to students that he has accepted a head-of-school position at the Pingry School in central New Jersey.

Levinson noted that a cross-country move will bring him closer to family.

“I started out my teaching career in New Jersey and spent the first fourteen years there. My wife’s family is there and my parents are in Washington, D.C. Our whole family is on the East Coast,” Levinson said at the assembly. 

To fill Levinson’s position, a search committee will work find a head administrator, he added in the same announcement.

Co-chairs of the committee and board members Tori Ragen and Laura Domoto will manage the search.

Domoto indicated that the team will look for a candidate who can maintain UPrep’s current standards.

“We are in a great place, so this is an interesting time to be looking for our next leader because it isn’t because there are deficiencies or changes that we want to make,” she said.

Ragen echoed Domoto’s sentiment, adding that the next head of school will be expected to continue Levinson’s progress.

“We’re at a point where we need someone who is the right fit, and to a large extent, I think that means to carry on the work that has been done,” she said. “A lot of it is about implementation and maintaining the excellence that we are currently experiencing.”

Ragen sees this as a good time to analyze what type of head administrator the school needs in the coming years.

“It’s a good moment in time to let people reflect about what they think might be valuable next for a leader because we’ll be looking for the right long-term leader for the school,” she said.

In the search for the right candidate for the job, Ragen and Domoto raised the possibility of a interim head.

“We’re going in eyes wide open that the search could take more time than what would be ideal. If we do need to find an interim head, we’re confident that that will be a path that we can successfully navigate,” Domoto said.

Ragen stressed that many details are still up in the air this early in the search process.

“Until we see the pool of candidates, we won’t know,” she said in relation to the possibility of a short-term head of school.

The committee aims to involve the entire school community in the process.

“A great part of UPrep is the community engagement,” Ragen said. “There will be opportunities, I’m guessing after the new year, to engage all constituencies at the school.”

Levinson similarly looks forward to incorporating feedback from across the school into the search process.

“We’re asking for your input to help to find an amazing person for UPrep, which I know we will be able to do,” he said.

At press time, Ragen and Domoto planned to present a set of search process proposals to the full board on Dec. 13.