Oak Knoll Selects New Upper School Division Head

Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child has announced the selection of Kathryn McGroarty as the next Upper School Division Head.

McGroarty is currently the Director of Educational Innovation at the Madeira School in McLean, Virginia. She will succeed Jennifer G. Landis who will become Oak Knoll’s next Head of School upon Timothy J. Saburn’s retirement from the role after 16 years at the end of the 2020-2021 school year.

“I am blessed to be joining a community grounded in its faith in God, its search for knowledge and wisdom, and its service to others,” McGroarty said. “I am delighted for the opportunity to lead a community guided by Holy Child Founder Cornelia Connelly’s belief in educating the whole child and inspiring a joyous relationship with God. I am truly excited to be part of the Oak Knoll community.”

McGroarty, who has 20 years of experience in education, previously served as Academic Dean and Assistant Director of Global Programs at the Madeira School, as well as a world language teacher at Bavarian International School in Munich, Germany, and Charlotte Catholic High School and Holy trinity Catholic Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Kate’s intellect, energy and curricular experience best met our primary responsibility of providing the very best education for the young women in our Upper School,” Saburn said. “As someone with deep faith and an authentic personality, she was the clear first choice to lead our students with strong minds and humble hearts into the future of educational innovation.”

During her time at Madeira, McGroarty spent eight years as Academic Dean, where she fostered a community of educators and learners that sought their personal best and led a faculty whose goal was to be leaders in 21st century girls’ education.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Language and Linguistics from Queen’s University in Canada and a master’s degree in French as a Second Language from the University of Cambridge in England. She holds a Post Graduate Certificate of Education from Cambridge and a Certificate of Advanced Educational Leadership from Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child is an independent, Catholic school, coeducational in elementary school from pre-kindergarten through grade six; and all-girls in middle and high school from grades seven through 12. For more information about Oak Knoll, please visit www.oakknoll.org or call 908-522-8109.