After spending 13 years at Archer and serving one semester as interim Upper School Director, Gretchen Warner has been officially appointed to the position.

Warner has held many positions at Archer since she started in 2005, including science and human development teacher, Dean of Students, STEM Coordinator and Dean of Academic Affairs.

Archer held a nation-wide search for a new director after Samantha Coyne Donnel, who formerly held the position, left at the end of the 2016-2017 school year. As part of the search, Archer sent out surveys to students, faculty and parents — asking for their input on what would be the most important traits for the next director.

According to a community-wide email by Head of School Elizabeth English, the surveys revealed “a desire to appoint an Upper School Director with the capacity not only to help lead our school through a time of change, but also continue to innovate and support the faculty in their efforts to advance teaching and learning in the upper school.”

Ultimately on Jan. 8, English announced via email that Warner had been selected to take on the position and shared a segment of Warner’s application.

“We must design our lessons to be student-centric,” Warner wrote in her application. “And we can never give up on the belief that all of our students can achieve at high levels.”