Leadership & Strategic Priorities
Head of School Office
Welcome from the Head of School
Welcome to the Lake Forest Academy website. We invite you to learn about the Academy—our mission, values, and culture.
Founded in 1857, LFA guides young adults through a well-rounded, student-centric education that extends beyond the classroom curriculum. Lake Forest Academy is an intentionally inclusive community and welcoming community 30 miles north of Chicago.
The Academy is a truly unique institution. Now in my third year as Head of School, I’ve seen first-hand the impact of the LFA experience. As a boarding and day school, LFA students come from 40 nations and territories, 15 states, and from all across the greater Chicago metropolitan area.
LFA students take part in athletics, the performing and visual arts, and service-learning opportunities. The four pillars of our mission – character, scholarship, citizenship, and responsibility – serve as a foundation for the development of our students into thoughtful, caring, and imaginative young adults.
Like our student body, our dedicated faculty and staff come to LFA from all over the world. With a 6:1 student to faculty ratio and an average class size of 12 students, our faculty really know our students. Our faculty are also coaches, dorm parents, and club moderators.
We encourage you to learn more about LFA and visit our beautiful campus.
Go, Caxys!
José M. De Jesús P’22
Head of School
Head of School Office
Christopher Tennyson
Board of Trustees
Board of Trustees
Todd E. Altounian ’86
Bruce W. Anderson ’70, LT ’13
Molly Pearson Campbell ’04
Patrick J. Carroll II ’87, LT ’12
Charles T. Cooper ’96, Treasurer
J. Patrick Corsiglia
Jim C. Cowart ’69, Member at Large
Jessica P. Douglas ’96, Board Vice Chair
Dr. Ahmed Farag
Karin Fink
Haji L. Glover ’92
Gloria W. Harper
Duane C. Jackson ’01
Scott W. Kaeser ’96
Allan M. Kaplan ’72
Edward Kovas
Rumi Kuli ’93
John S. Marlatt ’65, Board Chair
Scott Meloun ’77
Bethann Moritz
Dr. Bancroft O’Quinn, Jr. ’72
Katherine Gray Pollock ’70
Emily Sammon ’91
Amish S. Shah ’92
Marianne Silver
Xiong Yin
Richard L. Zhao ’04, Secretary
Strategic Plan 2018
1. Increased Endowment Growth
- Increase the LFA Endowment, with a goal of $50 million by 2021, to improve the long-term financial strength of the school.
- Generate a significant and sustained increase in major and planned gifts.
- Identify and solicit donors to establish endowed support of Student Financial Aid, Faculty Chairs, and Speaker Funds.
- Establish the goal that at least 25% of all monies raised each year is put into the endowment.
2. Enhanced Faculty & Staff Quality
- Increase faculty and staff salaries and benefits over time to be commensurate with our place among the best independent boarding schools nationally.
- Expand and improve faculty housing to support the attraction and retention of faculty and increase the number of teaching faculty living on campus.
- Increase professional development opportunities.
- Increase the number of Faculty Chairs to stimulate innovation and faculty development.
3. Mission-Driven School Leadership
- Ensure the successful hiring and transition of a new Head of School who is committed to leading and advancing the school’s educational excellence, including the established focus on pluralism, a global educational experience, and a boarding school culture.
- Enhance efforts to recruit, mentor, and retain faculty, staff, and trustees who advance the LFA mission and mirror the demographic diversity of the student body.
- Examine the optimal size and composition of the student body, including a consideration of the benefits and costs of increasing the size of the school.
- Broaden the access to an LFA education, thereby advancing equality of opportunity and the diversity and quality of the student body.
4. Creative, Innovative and Personalized Education
- Strengthen the personalized educational experience of every student in order to prepare them for a successful college experience.
- Develop and implement a vision for innovative education specifically through academic technology, collaborative teaching, and interdisciplinary programs.
- Improve multicultural competencies and integrate and facilitate meaningful cross-cultural interactions in all areas of school life.
- Strengthen LFA’s commitment to and leadership of “Educating Global Citizens.”
5. Communication of Vision and Content
- Improve and expand the LFA website as well as other marketing and communication resources and materials, particularly for admissions, alumni relations, and athletics.
- Strengthen LFA’s identity, presence, and leadership in the local community.
- Increase and enhance LFA’s institutional identity in national and global markets.
