Country Day Will Have New Leader

By Brian Wallace

Administrator from private school hired

An administrator from a private school in Florida will take the reins this summer as the new head of Lancaster Country Day School.

The school’s board of trustees voted Friday to hire Steven D. Lisk, upper school director at Saint Stephen’s Episcopal School in Bradenton, Fla., as the new head of school, effective July 1.

“I’m delighted to have the opportunity to step in as the next head of Lancaster Country Day School,” Lisk said Monday from his office at Saint Stephen’s.

Lisk will replace Michael J. Mersky, who left in June after serving eight years as head of school. Since Mersky’s departure, assistant head of school Daphna Ben-Chaim has been serving as acting head.

Lisk was among more than 40 candidates from around the world considered for the job at Country Day, a private college- preparatory school with about 500 students in preschool through grade 12.

He was one of three candidates invited to visit the school and meet with a search committee.

Lisk said he was impressed by the “warmth and vitality” he encountered on all levels at Country Day – from students, parents, faculty, trustees, administrators and alumni.

“There’s a joy in the endeavor that I found remarkably refreshing,” he said.

A North Carolina native, Lisk began his teaching career at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va. He spent 12 years there as a history teacher, department head and coach of the school’s football, baseball and basketball teams.

Lisk then worked two years at Kent School in Kent, Conn., where he taught history and coached baseball.

He joined the Saint Stephen’s staff in 2002, initially as a teacher and coach, before being named director of the upper school, which includes about 300 students in grades nine through 12.

Saint Stephen’s, founded in 1970, has about 750 students.

Lisk has a master’s degree in United States history from North Carolina State University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Asked about his goals as the new head of school, Lisk said he will decline to comment until he has a chance to meet with the Country Day trustees and staff.

The school, founded in 1908, recently completed a $13 million renovation and expansion project. Lisk likely will oversee the second phase of the project, which will focus on the lower school, housing students in preschool through grade five.

He and his wife, Kirke, an art teacher, plan to move to the area with their sons, Fisher, 8, and William, 7.

E-mail: bwallace@lnpnews.com

Originally published by Intelligencer Journal Staff.

(c) 2007 Intelligencer Journal. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.