Birtwell officially named Sewickley Academy head of school

A familiar face will be permanently serving as Sewickley Academy’s head of school.

The Board of Trustees unanimously voted Feb. 15 to appoint Ashley Birtwell to lead the private school. Birtwell is the first woman to be in the top leadership role in the school’s history.

She has been interim head of school for seven months, taking the appointment came after the departure of Kolia O’Connor last July.

“It’s a career I always dreamed of. This is where I am meant to be right now, and it is an honor to be serving in this capacity,” Birtwell said.

Birtwell is steeped in Sewickley Academy’s ways. She attended the school from seventh to 10th grade, and has served as a trustee.

Vice chair of trustees Bradley Busatto said Birtwell’s connection to the academy was one of the reasons the board chose to appoint her. The board did not conduct a national search, as initially planned. The consultants hired for the job search felt Birtwell was an ideal candidate to lead the school, Busatto said.

“Based on everything she has accomplished this fall and her commitment to community, the recommendation of consultants was confirmation of what we all felt,” he said.

During her time as interim head of school, Birtwell was able to triple the number of merit scholarships, hire a new head of the Senior School and hire Ken Goleski as assistant head of school, develop a computer science program for grades pre-K through high school for next school year, cap tuition and more, according to a news release.

Birtwell’s focus is on increasing enrollment for the school and continuing to make it a community hub for current and future students of Sewickley Academy. She increased the admissions staff from two to four people to help further strategize how to keep students at the academy and bring in future prospects.

Birtwell had discussed the academy’s declining enrollment over the past 20 years, and the school’s effort to change that.

“We need to continue to add to our student body because that allows us to deliver on our commitment to academic excellence,” she said.

The school has been declining in enrollment since 2002, when the academy had 804 students. Birtwell said 583 students were enrolled at the school for the 2020-21 school year, which she noted was more than forecast due to covid. But, it was still a decline compared to other private schools that were experiencing growth in enrollment last summer. She also cited attrition as a factor as well.

Sewickley Academy faced criticism for the leadership changes announced last July, including the termination of its director of diversity, equity and inclusion.

A group of parents publicly expressed concerns about the termination being influenced by outside influences. Another parent group, Sewickley Parents Organization, sent out a letter to families in June, voicing concerns over the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion plan.

Birtwell pushed back on the idea, saying the board had been considering changes in leadership since early 2021, before the letter was sent, and that parents do not have a say in school policy decisions.

Health and physical education teacher Derek Chimner was appointed as the interim director of diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice and service. Birtwell said the school is looking to appoint someone permanently to the position and a decision will be made by July.

The school has hired consulting firm Mattingly Solutions to help guide its strategies involving diversity, inclusion and equity moving forward. Interviews, surveys and social groups will be conducted to help familiarize the firm with the community.

“We continue to be committed to diversity and being a community that celebrates diversity at all dimensions, and it remains at the heart of the mission of our school,” she said.