The Board of Trustees of St. Anne’s Episcopal School is pleased to announce that

Chris Cox

has been appointed as Head of School beginning on July 1, 2022.

Dear St. Anne’s Community:

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, and following an extensive five-month national search, I am delighted to announce that Chris Cox will become our new Head of School beginning July 1, 2022.

Chris truly embodies the values we have been seeking in the next steward of our community, as he is deeply dedicated to developing and nurturing our children as they prepare to go out and make an impact on our world. As a former teacher, mentor, coach and head of a division, he brings relevant and valuable experience, resiliency, empathy, humility and inspiration – all of which are needed to help unite our community and move forward stronger and more engaged than ever before.

Chris comes to us from The St. Paul’s School, an Episcopal, independent school near Baltimore, Maryland, where he serves as Head of Middle School. He was previously the Associate Head of Middle School at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, North Carolina. His ties to Colorado are strong, having served as an educator at Kent Denver for seven years, where he taught and coached lacrosse for many of our St. Anne’s graduates. He built his forward-thinking leadership skills at a variety of independent schools, where he has been deeply committed to fostering inclusivity and innovation through the development of DEI student and faculty programs, global citizenship and service programs, STEM experiential learning programs, and character education programs through Outward Bound. He has also served on the accreditation committee for the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) and was a recipient of the NAIS Aspiring Heads Fellowship. He has degrees from Bucknell University and University of Denver, is certified as a trainer by the Center for Creative Leadership, and received certification from National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS).

We want to thank our Search Committee, faculty, staff, students, and parents for their involvement and patience as we thoughtfully conducted our search, helping us find our next leader who appreciates our special St. Anne’s community.

Interim Head of School Lori Frank had the unenviable job of navigating us through the pandemic and this transition, and she deserves our immense and unwavering gratitude. St. Anne’s students continue to thrive, which is a testament to her leadership, deep skills, and love for our kids. Thank you, Lori.

Now, the Board of Trustees humbly asks that you truly welcome Chris to our St. Anne’s community. We know many of you heard him speak at the community forums, and we hope that each of you will soon have a chance to meet him personally. Chris is planning a series of small group conversations with faculty, staff, students, and parents once he arrives on campus. This will be an opportunity to get to know Chris and his wife, Trudy, sons Hadyn (14), Caelen (11), and Riley (8), and for his family to understand more fully what a special community we have built at St. Anne’s.

As a volunteer board, we know that Chris will work with all of us to guide our nurturing environment and that he will support our strong commitment to upholding the timeless values set by the Founding Sisters of St. Anne’s – character, humility and kindness.

We have much to be thankful for: thriving classrooms, a strong budget and endowment, amazing student outcomes, and a dedicated team of administrators, faculty, and staff across our campus. And now we have a new, enthusiastic, well-matched Head of School.

Please take time to read the attached letter from Chris, and if you are so inclined, reach out to him with a personal note of welcome. He can be reached via email at [email protected].

Respectfully,

Liz Walker
St. Anne’s Board Chair

Dear St. Anne’s Episcopal School Community,

My family and I are overjoyed to be joining the St. Anne’s community. I observed great loyalty and love for the school while visiting earlier this fall. When my wife, Trudy, and I were teachers in Denver independent schools, we knew St. Anne’s students to be hardworking and have a strong sense of character and moral grounding. The humble, well-prepared, and engaged St. Anne’s graduate is the school’s greatest accomplishment. This is a wonderful and compelling reputation for a school. I credit this to St. Anne’s mission and the legacy of Mother Irene to educate the head and heart of each student. It is one of the many reasons why I was attracted to St. Anne’s, and one I will embrace as its next leader.

In thinking about the 2022-2023 school year, one of my primary goals from the outset will be to participate in school life and get to know the students, faculty/staff, and parents. As the new leader of this school, it will be important to hear from all members what it values and to move forward together. I look forward to meeting all of you, supporting the growth of this next generation of young learners, and leading St. Anne’s to its next chapter.

Trudy and I, along with our three sons, Hadyn, Caelen, and Riley, are excited to return to the Rocky Mountain West as a family. All my best for a wonderful winter holiday season.

Chris

Trudy is a middle and upper school science teacher, cross country coach, and lacrosse coach. She enjoys reading, hiking, skiing, and the outdoors. She currently teaches at Garrison Forest School, an all-girls school in Owings Mills, Maryland. She has a BA in Geology from Hamilton College and earned her Master’s in Science Education from University of Maryland, College Park. She previously taught at The American School in London, Ravenscroft, as well as St. Mary’s Academy and Kent Denver. She plans to take next year off to help get her family reacclimated to Denver.