Transitions/Retirement

Here is a letter sent out from my agency Community Day School about my retirement:

Dear CDSA friends and family,

I’m sad to say we are writing to let you know that Caryn Swan Jamero, our Executive Director, will be transitioning out of the Executive Director position at CDSA.  She will be deeply missed. We are appreciative of her years of dedicated high quality service to CDSA and her continuing support of the agency throughout the transition. As you may know, Caryn has been the ED for over 21 years, presiding over CDSA’s expansion from 2 to 9 school-age sites and 6 preschool programs. Over the years, all the programs have been nationally accredited and met the highest quality standards. The agency’s leadership around the use of data to improve outcomes for children was ground breaking and went hand in hand with a continued value for learning and teaching 21^st Century skills and social-emotional wellness. She has developed CDSA’s leadership role within the early childhood education and out-of-school-time communities.

The CDSA Board of Directors in collaboration with Caryn has spent some valuable time considering how to best continue providing excellent leadership both for CDSA and the greater community.  Included in our unique CDSA culture is a history of valuing people, honesty, integrity, gratitude, joy in life, creativity, fun and appreciation.  We are committed to protecting and promoting the extraordinary relationships that exist within CDSA between leadership and staff, as well as those important relationships with Seattle Public Schools, the early learning and youth development communities, funders and other constituents and stakeholders.  Every month the Board meets at one of our 9 sites and learns about the strong bonds being created between CDSA, parents, and school teachers as we coordinate collective efforts to provide a consistent environment for all our communities’ children to learn and grow. We also hear about the many community groups who join with center staff to provide special and exciting learning opportunities for our kids. Caryn has encouraged and guided leadership development within the agency leading to many of these opportunities.

The Board, in consultation with Caryn, has decided that it would serve the best interests of CDSA and of our community to first look within CDSA for a qualified internal candidate to transition into the ED role. In making this decision, we have also considered Caryn’s devotion to overcoming obstacles, enabling the dreams of others and providing a wide range of training and development opportunities for all levels of CDSA staff. These opportunities have allowed many CDSA staff to move up in positions of responsibility within CDSA or into such positions within other organizations.  It has been one of Caryn’s guiding principles that developing people into better trained teachers and industry professionals, leads to positive outcomes for children and families and for the early learning and youth development fields.  In continuing to promote CDSA’s mission, she has ensured fair compensation and benefits for all staff.

We will be in touch about a future celebration of Caryn’s success in leading CDSA for 21 years. We know she will want to thank her “work family” and we will want time to express our appreciation.
We will announce decisions about the transition as they are made and appreciate your continued support of CDSA.
Sincerely,

Nick Heyer                                  Caryn Swan Jamero

Board President                            Executive Director

         

Here is the letter announcing the new Executive Director:

October 1, 2013

Dear CDSA Partners and Friends,

 We recently shared with you the news of our Executive Director, Caryn Swan Jamero’s retirement. We have appreciated Caryn’s guidance, commitment, and work to promote our mission, strengthen our organization, and increase access to high quality care of all children.

 

Under Caryn’s two decades of leadership, CDSA has continued to grow and expand our mission. The most notable achievements include the expansion from two to nine school-age sites and six preschool programs, advocacy for high quality standards and equitable access for children, development of CDSA’s leadership role within the Early Childhood Education and Out-of-School-Time communities, and leading the adoption of a culture of reflective practice, intentionality, and data-informed decisions. This past year, we gave away a record-breaking $40,000+ in student scholarships and tuition assistance.

 

While transitions such as these can be challenging, I am pleased to announce that Brianna Jackson will serve as CDSA’s new Executive Director beginning November 1, 2013. Brianna has been with CDSA for 15 years serving in a number of roles from CDSA parent to most recently as Director of Operations for the past three years. Brianna has also led the agency in NAEYC accreditation for all six preschool sites with 83% of graduating preschoolers prepared for kindergarten by Teaching Strategies Gold standards. She has also directed the continuous improvement of school-age quality through implementation of Youth Program Quality (YPQ). Brianna has been an integral part of CDSA’s leadership team and offers her extensive field experience, a Masters of Arts in Organizational Management, a passion for CDSA’s mission and vision and her proven ability to be innovative and forward thinking to provide high quality programs. I am confident that with Brianna’s leadership the organization will continue the work with the same level of high quality, community partnerships, and outcomes for children and families.

As we thank Caryn for all her years of service and dedication to CDSA, she shared with me her respect for the staff, partners and supporters.

 

"It has been an honor for me to serve as ED of Community Day School Association for these past 21 years. I would like to thank our board, staff and numerous partners and colleagues for their important contributions to the attainment of our mission and vision of collaborating with families, schools, and other partners to achieve student outcomes.
We have made significant progress in establishing the important role that effective and engaging preschool and school age learning programs and CBO’s can play in reducing achievement gaps, increasing school-year learning and helping all kids achieve higher college and career-ready expectations.
I look forward to continuing to serve the organization as a transition consultant to the new ED and Board through the end of 2013. Beyond that I will keep in touch and be around to celebrate the future accomplishments and contribute to the longevity of the agency in new ways."   

Please join me in wishing Caryn the best of luck as she moves forward into the next chapters of her life and welcoming Brianna into her new role as Executive Director. 

Sincerely,

Nick Heyer

Board President

 I was unable to copy the save the date PDF to the blog so have just listed the date of the retirement party below. Please let me know if you'd like to attend.  

Hello  CDSA Partners and Friends, and Friends and Family of Caryn –

Please save the date for Caryn’s Retirement Party! October 25th in the evening.