The NWAIS Board of Governors is pleased to announce that Chris Watson has been selected to serve as the next NWAIS Executive Director as of July 1, 2025.
During the search process, the NWAIS Board, staff, and community of heads of schools completed surveys and participated in discussions to identify the key attributes that the
next executive director would need to lead our association. Those attributes include being a thought leader, a strategic thinker, and an effective communicator. We sought
an ED with a collaborative spirit who listens deeply and asks probing questions. They would be a synthesizer of information who is an optimist, accessible to others, and has
high EQ. Most of all, we were determined to find someone who would hold onto NWAIS values while rolling up their sleeves and digging into the work of school leadership with
each of us.
We found all of that in Chris Watson.
Chris has been a member of NWAIS since July 2011 when he joined Soundview School as Middle School Head and IB Coordinator. Chris became the Head of School in 2013. Over the
last decade, Chris has worked tirelessly to strengthen the school, leading the school not only through COVID, but also through a tuition reset that created financial sustainability
and led to a significant increase in enrollment. While leading Soundview, Chris was also a leader in the association. He has served on numerous board committees, co-chaired
several accreditation teams, and was secretary of the Board of Governors.
Beyond the experience Chris brings, he also brings a deep belief in the power of the NWAIS community. He was frequently referred to as a “culture keeper” for our association;
someone who understands, upholds, and models our values. We believe that the innovative, yet community centered approach that Chris has used to elevate Soundview will position
Chris to continue to elevate the work of NWAIS.
Chris will begin his tenure at NWAIS on July 1, 2025. Read his letter to the community to hear his excitement in his own words. If you’d like to send a note of congratulations,
he can be reached at cwatson@soundview.org.
NWAIS would like to extend thanks to the search committee for their leadership of this effort.
Chair: Brenda Leaks, Seattle Girls’ School (WA)
Jenn Elkin, Epiphany School (WA)
Jim Brewer, The McGillis School (UT)
Nick Cofod, Foothills School (ID)
Steve Albert, Portland Jewish Academy (OR)
Suzanne Messinger, Hyla School (WA)
We also extend thanks to Ben Pettit, NWAIS Board President and Head of School at Sun Valley Community School (ID), and to our search partners at Educators Collaborative.
I am honored to be selected as the next Executive Director of NWAIS. Thank you to the Search Committee, Board of Governors, NWAIS staff, and Educators Collaborative for a search
process that has been both deeply reflective and future focused. Thank you to the Soundview School Board of Trustees for their support and partnership. And thank you to my
family for a foundation of unconditional love and joy. I am grateful for Mark Crotty’s leadership and look forward to learning and working with him for a smooth transition
next July.
During my tenure as Head of Soundview School and as a parent of independent school students, I’ve had firsthand experience with the importance and impact of NWAIS to our member
schools. The clarity of NWAIS values and accreditation standards have guided my own leadership development and Soundview’s improvement and growth. The NWAIS culture of collegiality,
innovative programs, and professional development are models for strength in diversity and prioritization of students. I look forward to doubling down on these strengths while
charting the future of the association in partnership with the NWAIS Board of Governors, heads of school, and staff.
NWAIS has always been guided by its mission as it grapples with emerging education trends and a changing cultural and societal landscape. I’m committed to carrying forward our
values and the NWAIS mission, supporting collaboration across schools, and focusing on practices that help our communities thrive. Independent schools have a unique ability
to respond creatively to the needs of their students, and I’m excited to help our schools continue to adapt and succeed as education evolves.
In the months ahead, I will savor my time with Soundview. I look forward to hearing more from each of you about your visions for your schools and the NWAIS community. I am grateful
to be taking this step forward with such an exemplary and diverse group of educators, leaders, and schools. I’m energized to realize a future vision together.
Read below to explore the Executive Director search process
Information for Candidates explores the role, qualifications, and application process
On February 5, 2024, the NWAIS Board of Governors and Executive Directors issued the following letters announcing the resignation of NWAIS Executive Director, Mark Crotty, effective June 2025.
Click here to access the PDF version of this announcement.
Recently, Mark Crotty, our NWAIS Executive Director, informed the Board of Governors of his decision that the 2024-2025 school year would be his last with the Association. Mark assumed the role and moved to Seattle from Dallas during the onset and peak
of the COVID-19 pandemic when community engagement, connectivity, and systems needed to be reimagined and redesigned on the fly. His work to preserve the culture and
collegiality of the NWAIS association should be noted as a hallmark success of his tenure. Mark and the NWAIS staff have also done great work on our new non-discrimination
policy and related membership processes and successfully navigated the ICAISA accreditation process for the Association. Further, the Association has nimbly developed
responsive programming for the membership, while also creating new systems and personally supporting leadership at all levels during his tenure.
Importantly, Mark has made a difference for NWAIS through a challenging period because of the sincerely humble and generous person he has proven to be. As one Governor noted, some people are generous because they know they should be. Mark is just generous.
He has proven to be generous with resources, ideas, and questions, but he has also been a generous listener, empathizer, and collaborator. He continuously focuses
on the human element at the heart of our schools, challenges, and opportunities, while always demonstrating a deep care for the individuals involved. Mark has quietly
supported the association’s individual schools and school leaders, and mediated our occasional differences and disagreements, while persistently, gently, and firmly
advocating for our collective advancement. He has done steadfast work in honoring multiple perspectives, while helping us in big and small ways to find common ground
around shared values. NWAIS has long been known as a humble, innovative, and collegial association, and Mark has certainly modeled those characteristics as our ED.
Over the next 10 months, we will be conducting a search for our next Executive Director. A search committee, chaired by Brenda Leaks, has been established and a RFP process to select a search firm to assist us in this endeavor is underway. We intend to
finalize the selection of our next ED by our NWAIS Fall Heads’ Meetings in ‘24, with an anticipated start date of July ‘25. We will be asking for your input at several
points throughout the process. Please look for information from the committee on how to engage, as well as timelines and more, in the near future.
Mark and the Board are committed to continuing the good and collective work of the Association over the next 17 months, and we will have a chance to celebrate Mark at Alderbrook in the spring of ‘25. In the meantime, please join me and the NWAIS Board
in thanking Mark for his great work to date and in supporting him in his continued efforts on all of our behalf.
Sincerely, Ben Pettit on behalf of and with many contributions from the NWAIS Board of Governors
I try to live per one of my favorite expressions: “Leap, and the net shall appear.” I don’t embrace this philosophy with a rash, reckless sense of YOLO. Instead, I leap only after the necessary assessment and preparation have affirmed my initial optimism.
In June 2025 I will be taking my next giant leap, when I step down from my role as Executive Director of NWAIS.
Despite encouragement from some key colleagues, I almost didn’t apply for the NWAIS Executive Director position. Other than a vacation in Jackson Hole, neither my wife, Sallie, nor I had visited the Pacific Northwest. We had scant personal or professional
connections in the region. It was quite far away. For 25 years Dallas had been our home, with deep roots and many long-time friends. Fortunately, I ignored the small
doubts and listened to those other voices. The whole family came on my initial interview visit, and we felt enchanted. As my daughter remarked to Sallie that first
day, “I can really see you and Dad here.” Meanwhile, I clicked with everyone I met. The process unfolded; I did my research; and when NWAIS honored me with an offer,
Sallie and I decided to soar into the largely unknown.
The net certainly appeared. Of the finest quality, it’s artfully crafted from strong, durable materials. Its cords are intricately woven and knotted, strengthened in key places by shared values, mutual respect, and human connections. It can support a
much greater burden than the heft of its individual parts. It is not your typical association. NWAIS is much more. NWAIS shows how a community thrives.
Since assuming my role in July 2019, I’ve strived to channel this ethos in ways that enhance NWAIS and serve you as members. I’m also acutely aware my leadership has depended greatly on an amazing staff and dedicated people throughout our schools. The
list of people to thank would scroll for pages. Some highlights? The conversations that led to tightening our non-discrimination requirements. Leading tailored workshops
for many boards while seeing our regular governance training attract booming enrollment. The expansion and responsiveness of our professional development offerings,
often led by NWAIS members. The pilot program for rookie heads to receive executive coaching at a reasonable rate. Watching schools grow through the accreditation
process. Reviewing our standards and the ongoing reimagination of our self-study process. Committees and task forces reviewed our values and dues structures, added
an annual report, piloted different membership criteria, and improved our succession planning. We shifted to a new technology platform before the old one toppled.
Meanwhile, we cradled each other through a global pandemic. Through it all, our connections have grown stronger. That is the power of community.
As proud as I am of that work, what really stands out to me are things that happened behind the scenes, including having been to a majority of our schools. Whether on visits or via Zoom or on the phone, I remember hearing about your struggles and your
victories, your worries and your dreams. Nothing gratifies me like seeing you, your leadership, and your schools flourish.
While Sallie and I love everything about our life here in the PNW, we feel the magnetic pull of family and friends. As a confidante put it to me, we crave greater proximity to other key parts of our lives. In due time the professional nets will appear.
Until then, I will revel in being part of the NWAIS community. It has been the most special time of my career.
