Open Letter From the Villa Duchesne Board of Trustees:

Dear Sacred Heart Family,

The Board of Trustees for Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School is pleased to announce Elizabeth Miller as our next Head of School, effective July 1, 2013. The trustees unanimously voted to offer the position to Elizabeth following a comprehensive national search. They were particularly impressed with Elizabeth's "commitment to her Catholic faith and her vision to immerse herself in the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart education."

Elizabeth is currently Upper School Head at Hutchison School, an all girls' school (age 2-grade 12) founded in Memphis in 1902. Her leadership responsibilities include academics, student life, advancement and enrollment management. She previously served as a faculty member and registrar for Pace Academy, developing an Asian History curriculum for the independent K-12 school in Atlanta.

Elizabeth was called to independent school education in 2002 after a successful career in international business. She managed multi-million dollar accounts for AT&T and conducted business negotiations throughout Asia. Elizabeth is fluent in Japanese and holds a Master's Degree in Regional Studies East Asia from Harvard University.

Elizabeth said, "After nearly a decade in international business in successive roles, I discovered what I had intuitively known long before-I wanted to be where I belonged in education. Independent school education has since become my life's vocation."

The Board thanks Sr. Lucie Nordmann for serving as Head of School since 2009. Board Chair John Hanichak said, "We remain most grateful for the leadership and contributions of Sr. Nordmann in collaboration with the leadership team, faculty and staff, and friends of Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School." She joins the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana this summer as Director of Advancement.

The Board is also indebted to the Search Committee and its Advisory Committee. They helped develop the criteria for our next Head of School based on extensive feedback from our school community. Their unanimous recommendation reflects the aspirations you generously shared as students, parents, alums, faculty, and staff. A student council member stated after meeting Elizabeth, "We can look up to her."

In her statement of educational philosophy, Elizabeth wrote, "One of my core values as an educator is that each child thrives in the school that he or she attends, not merely prepare for the next. Our society pushes students to focus so much on future demands-that they may not flourish in the very school the student and the family chose to enroll in. I challenge students to relish their current roles." Her words echoed the advice of St. Rose Philippine Duchesne. "Do not look back to the past, nor forward to the future. Claim only the present, for it holds God's will."

Elizabeth will be moving to St. Louis this summer with her husband, Mark. Their boys, Kevin and Jackson, will join Oak Hill in the fall. There will be opportunities to meet the Miller Family before the start of the new school year. In the meantime, please join us in officially welcoming Elizabeth and her family into our Sacred Heart family.

Sincerely,

John J. Hanichak, Chair
Board of Trustees
Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School

Beth Lenke, Chair
Search Committee
Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School