A Message from Chair of the Board of Trustees, Jessica Grindstaff ’96

Hello Buxton Community, 

Since December 2025 I’ve served as your Board Chair. In these past 9 months, the Board has made meaningful changes, taken on ambitious work, and hired Interim Head of School, Jess Rooney. Jess and I have worked together closely since the new year and see Buxton’s leadership as a close collaboration.

One of the most important projects the Board has undertaken is working with you to create a strategic plan. After an almost year-long process, involving more than 50 alums, students, faculty members, and trustees, we’re excited to share our strategic plan with the community later this Fall. As we approach our Centennial in 2028, it is a time for both reflection and looking forward. We now have a community-created roadmap that does both.

Over the summer, the Board took on the ambitious work of recruiting new members. Our new teammates offer fresh perspectives and meaningful skills. We have also set goals for Board engagement with the community, including committing to more time on campus and involvement in school-based activities like Arts Weekend and admissions events. 

We’re proud to share that the Board is engaged in closer and more efficient communication than it has been in recent years. We’re recommitting to Committee work, an annual Board retreat, and weekly touch points with Interim Head, Jess. 

Like most small, progressive day and boarding schools across the country, Buxton is reimagining what sustainability looks like going forward. Staying in close contact, asking hard questions, and staying engaged are ways that all of us can be part of Buxton’s next century. 

As parents and caregivers, donors, alumni, community members, staff and faculty, Board members and students, thank you for showing up and sharing our mission. 

With gratitude,

Jessica Grindstaff ’96