Meet Dr. Sue Groesbeck, Sandy Spring Friend School’s New Interim Head of School

On November 4, Dr. Sue Groesbeck begins her tenure as SSFS's Interim Head of School for 2024-2025. She recently sat down with us to chat about her many career experiences as an educator, her expertise supporting schools as an interim head, and how she looks forward to partnering with SSFS over the next school year. Below are edited excerpts from the interview. 

You have spent nearly five decades as a public and private school educator, school principal, division director, head of school, and, most recently, an interim head of school specialist with experience in foreign schools. What initially drew you to work in the classroom? 
I was just nipped by it. I graduated from Skidmore College with a French/German major and a concentration in geology. My first job offer was actually with Owens Corning to work on an oil rig because I could speak two languages and I knew geology. But I got a substitute position in my former high school in Connecticut, where two of my sisters were still students. Soon after, I accepted a full-time position in the Brighton Central School District, a suburb of Rochester, New York, for my first job teaching French and German in an extraordinarily invested public school system. I immediately found my home. I was part of the students’ lives and they were a part of my life. I was nurtured by older teachers. I had found my calling.

While teaching at Brighton, I earned my master’s and doctorate degrees at The University of Rochester. My superintendent encouraged me to apply for a sabbatical to earn my doctoral degree in school administration. After graduation, I taught German at a public high school during the day, and at the University of Rochester at night. However, I found that the university students weren’t as fun. As I would demonstrate something and jump off the desk, the university students...took notes. They weren’t as exciting as my middle and high school students, who were little sponges. The K-12 environment suited me better.

What has kept you in the profession after all these years?
A love of learning and improving on the craft. Early on in my career, I earned a Fulbright to study comparative education and linguistics in Germany; years later, I earned a second Fulbright, also to study comparative education, but in Japan. For two years while I was working on my doctorate, I got to travel with Ted Sizer, a visionary leader in pedagogy and school reform and former dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. I earned a postdoc at Columbia University and served as a Visiting Fellow in Curriculum Design and Supervision at the Klingenstein Center, Teachers College, Columbia University. More recently, I took a course on visual learning at Harvard. I’ve continued to invest in teaching. I was never the kind of teacher content to just sit back and say, ‘That sounds great!’ And I never wanted to be that kind of administrator.

What was the transition from teacher to administrator like for you?
It took me 17 years to leave the classroom. I was loath to make the jump. But an early mentor of mine—the superintendent of Brighton Central Schools—lifted me up and out of the classroom. He said, ‘We need good administrators,’ and persuaded me that I would have a wider net, having faculty and staff as my students, too. After 17 years teaching in the Brighton district, I became an assistant principal at a nearby public school. But I was really missing the classroom. The Harley School in Rochester—whose mission and values were based on Quaker beliefs, although it wasn’t officially associated with a Quaker Meeting—was my first independent school post. They offered me the opportunity to serve as the Upper School division head and teach. I flourished.

Over the years, I’ve experienced teaching moments with students that are seared into my brain. It’s tremendous, as an educator, how you can affect a life. I’ve always been close to my students. When I got married, many of them attended my wedding. I was just that kind of a teacher.

What led to your specialty helping schools through leadership transitions in an interim capacity?
As the Head of School at Havergal College in Toronto (a K-12 school with 1,000 girls), I had a visa to live and work in Canada. When it expired, I was planning to retire. But I came home to the U.S. from Toronto after a big retirement party, and I was approached by Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga. Their 24-year Head was leaving, and they asked if I would help out during that transition. It turned out I was good at it. I was good at taking care of things so that the next head stays longer, which is ultimately the goal of an interim head. Statistically, there’s a greater chance of a new head sticking around if they’re not compared to the previous head. An interim provides that buffer, along with governing expertise. I have an emotional and professional distance as an interim from which to make recommendations to the school’s board [of trustees] that draw on my experience and knowledge. So, after Girls Preparatory School, I got another such interim role and another and another, and now, at Sandy Spring Friends, I’m on number eight!

What attracted you to SSFS to serve in this interim role?
The school’s mission is very attractive to me. That's always where I start. When I spoke at length with the search consultant, I asked her to tell me what it is she loves about the campus. She spoke over and over about how much the students love their experience here. I learned that the students are genuinely invested and excited about their day. The campus seems so vibrant, and I was attracted to the sense of joy that comes through.

As I mentioned, while I’m not a Quaker myself, my first independent school experience made me familiar and comfortable with the values. At Harley, our motto was “Become what thou art.” When I was at the School, I attended the Quaker Meeting near St. Paul's Church in the City of Rochester with many of my colleagues. Quaker tenets promote inclusion of all races and religions, and for me, those values—that respect and acknowledgment of other people and where they are in their journey—were honed during my time in Canada, as well as my work at a school in Oman, a Muslim country. Ultimately, I chose SSFS because I was invited to be a part of the SSFS story of success. I hope to make a positive difference here.

How will you partner with the school to identify its next long-term head?
My role is twofold: as a consultant to the search firm the School has engaged [RG175], as well as the School’s representative to the candidates.

Importantly, I don’t betray my interim role; it’s clear that I’m not a candidate for the job. But when we get down to a list of finalists, I make sure that they have a fantastic experience on campus. Candidates want an organized visit, they want to have an agenda in their hand, they want smooth transitions between interviews and student tours, they want to have a nice hotel experience, maybe with a welcome basket, and not eat dinner alone. I’m the manager of their visit from start to finish. We’re selling Sandy Spring Friends to them, so their visit should be enjoyable and they should have access to everyone; I make sure no constituent group is overlooked. I don’t take part in interviews, but I want candidates to feel comfortable and know they can ask me questions.

As you begin your interim role on November 4 and assist with SSFS’s leadership transition, what do you want our community members to know?
I will work hard for Sandy Spring Friends. My goal is always to leave a school better than I found it. It’s also important to me that the seniors have a great year, because they didn't ask for an interim and they deserve attention. Once I’m on campus and fully engaged with the board, I’ll be able to specify goals more directly, but overall, you will see me as an available, responsive presence on campus. Given the nature of my role, I understand it can be difficult to welcome an interim to campus, but my hope is that the community will feel comfortable including me.

Fun Facts

• Dr. Groesbeck’s husband, Mark—they recently celebrated their 50th anniversary—will join her on campus. When she’s not serving as an interim head on a campus, Hilton Head Island, SC, is their primary residence.
   
• She has two grown daughters, a veterinarian who lives in Wisconsin and a preschool teacher who lives in Georgia.
   
• She is the grandmother of three grandsons.
   
• She and Mark have a lake house in the North Georgia mountains where they enjoy gardening, boating, and being in the water.
   
• The Groesbeck family are ardent Georgia Bulldog fans!
   
• In her free time, Sue loves to walk up to 4 miles a day, read (she belongs to three book clubs), and swim.
   
• Sue was born in Martinsville, VA, and graduated from high school in Darien, CT, where she met her husband. They attended the Senior Prom together!
   

Sue will be a visible presence on campus beginning in November and looks forward to meeting families shortly thereafter. Watch for more information directly from Sue in early November for events and opportunities to meet.