RE announces new Head of the Middle School for '22-23

10/18/2021

Head of School Penny Townsend sent this communication to RE families on October 18, 2021:

Dear Members of the Ransom Everglades Community,

It is with great pleasure that I share that John Eric Boberg, who has spent three decades in independent schools and is currently the Chief Academic Officer at The Episcopal School of Dallas, will become the next Head of the Middle School at Ransom Everglades.

During a distinguished career at three independent schools, Dr. Boberg has worked extensively on curriculum development and teacher instruction. He has managed the transition from eighth grade to high school, and is assisting with the development of age-appropriate health and wellness programming. He has served at both the middle and upper school levels and worked as an academic leader, teacher, coach and advisor.

The members of our middle school head search committee unanimously agreed that Dr. Boberg is the right person for this critical position at Ransom Everglades, and we are thrilled that he shared our assessment. I cannot wait to introduce him in person; he will assume his new post on July 1, 2022.

Dr. Boberg, who has been at The Episcopal School since 2013, has chaired the Learning and Teaching Committee there; led “move up” meetings and other efforts to help eighth graders prepare for high school; directed the review and restructuring of the middle school history curriculum; and assisted with the development of the middle school engineering and design program. He also has been the chief architect of the school’s faculty professional growth efforts.

Perhaps his most appealing trait is his enthusiasm for guiding the academic, social and emotional development of middle school students. He told me his “greatest growth and joy over the last eight years” has come while working with students, teachers and families in the middle school, citing in particular the “playfulness and joy with which early adolescents approach academic challenges, learning as much about themselves as the material.”

He also shared that his priority was to help fashion “responsible citizens who think critically, communicate persuasively, and engage in their civic duties.”

Prior to his time in Dallas, he spent 13 years at Fort Worth Country Day, where he served as Chair of the Curriculum Committee and as an upper school English teacher, basketball and debate coach and honor council advisor. He began his career as teacher, coach and Director of Forensics at the Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale.

Dr. Boberg earned his PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he was recognized with a Distinguished Researcher Award; he has published a number of peer-reviewed academic papers. He earned an MEd at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; an MBA at the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University; and his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and political science with a minor in mathematics at the University of North Florida.

Interim Head of the Middle School Karen Thompson will continue in that position through the end of the school year. Mrs. Thompson, a world languages teacher who has been at Ransom Everglades for 39 years, assumed the interim post after the departure of Rachel Rodriguez last spring. She has embraced the middle school, and I am grateful to her for making the transition so seamless for our middle school students and faculty.

I would like to take a moment to recognize my colleagues on our search committee and thank them for their many insights and collaboration: John King, Patricia Sasser, Amy Sayfie Zichella '93, Wendell Graham '74, Joe Mauro, Ellen Grant and Deb Savino.

I hope you share my excitement about this wonderful news for the middle school, and all of Ransom Everglades.

Warmest regards,

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RE founder Paul Ransom, circa 1903

RE announces new Head of the Middle School for '22-23

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