In a letter earlier this afternoon, Head of School Dave Baad announced Matt Peal as ESD's next Clark Family Head of Upper School.

Dear ESD Community,

We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Matt Peal as the next Clark Family Head of Upper School at The Episcopal School of Dallas. Matt comes to us from the O’Neal School in Southern Pines, North Carolina, where he is serving as their Head of Upper School. Prior to O’Neal, he was the Director of Student Life at St. Andrew’s School in Barrington, Rhode Island. Matt, a native of Douglasville, Georgia, graduated from the University of Georgia with a B.A. in History and earned an M.A. in Organizational Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University. We are excited to welcome him, his wife, Lauren, and their three school-aged children to our community.

Matt began his career as an AP US and World History teacher and has also coached baseball and football. He has extensive experience and expertise in both curriculum development and student life programming. He impressed our hiring team throughout the process with his ability to articulate his academic vision and his philosophical alignment with the traditions of ESD. He also showed an immediate connection to the students with whom he interacted and a profound understanding of how to build and maintain a positive school culture for all students. We are excited by the prospect of his leadership in all areas, including the contributions he will make to the Executive Leadership Team’s strategic thinking.

I want to thank our hiring team: Rebecca Brady, Chief Academic Officer; Tracey Shirey, Head of Lower School; Jon Chein, Head of Middle School; Father Nate Bostian, Stemmons Family Senior Chaplain; Bernadette Gerace, Chief Human Resources Officer; and Scott Goetsch, Eighth Grade Dean and science teacher, for their outstanding work during this process. The team and I culled through dozens of resumes from educators around the country, conducted ten semi-finalist Zoom interviews, and hosted five finalist visits. I also want to thank the faculty, parents, and students who met with the finalist candidates and provided feedback. It was invaluable.

Onward and upward, 

David L. Baad
Hobson Family Head of School