We are excited to share some wonderful news as we look ahead to the coming school year.
Following a thorough search and unanimous vote by our Board of Trustees, we are happy to announce that Wendy Lawrence, Ph.D., will join us as our next Head of School at Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor.
Dr. Wendy holds a B.A. from Swarthmore College, an M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Boston College, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Eastern Michigan University. Her career in education spans over two decades — from classroom teaching and curriculum development to co-founding and leading a private middle school in Washington State, where she helped grow a school from its first 14 students to over 200. Most recently, she has served as a lecturer at the University of Michigan’s School of Education and as Assistant Director of Student Life Research at U-M, where she led large-scale staff and organizational research.
Dr. Wendy is also deeply rooted in the Ann Arbor Jewish community. She has co-chaired the Jewish Community Relations Council, served on the board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and Temple Beth Emeth, and completed the Spertus Institute’s Leadership Certificate in Combating Antisemitism.
Dr. Wendy will officially assume her role on July 1st, 2026.
Please see a brief introductory message from her to our community.
We are grateful to our Search Committee, school leadership and staff, board members, and all the families and community members who participated in this process.
We look forward to welcoming Dr. Wendy to our community and are grateful for your continued support as we work together to provide excellent Jewish education to the children of Ann Arbor and beyond.
A WORD FROM DR. WENDY LAWRENCE,
INCOMING HEAD OF SCHOOL
Dear Hebrew Day School community,
One of my first jobs out of college was as a science museum educator and performer. My favorite show to do was the bubble show — I blew up and popped hundreds of bubbles and I even filled some with helium (so they would rise up quickly) and some with hydrogen (so I could light them on fire)! One day while on the museum balcony filling up the hydrogen and helium balloons, I realized I had let the door shut and couldn’t get back in.
My show started in a few minutes and an audience was already waiting. No one was going to hear me
pounding on the door–it was tucked in a back corner behind the Naked Mole Rat exhibit. After a small
amount of panicking, I looked around and realized that there was a narrow (but not too narrow) ledge running alongside the exterior wall of the building and I saw an open door on another wall a little ways away. With my large balloons in hand, I tread carefully along the ledge, high (but not too high) above the parking lot, and found the open door. It led to the back entrance of an exhibit that was under construction, and I got some surprised looks as I came out of nowhere with my balloons.
It would be more than ten years later that I pursued my PhD in education and wrote my dissertation on school leadership. My thesis was that leaders are critical architects and that our primary job is to search for the bridges (and ledges?!) that need to be built, or the walls that need to come down. While that story was a very literal example of me finding a narrow path, it is also the perfect metaphor for my leadership style: I am a connector, a bridge builder, and someone who seeks the paths not yet taken. I used a quote at the beginning of each chapter of my dissertation and one of them (you can probably see this coming) was this:
“All the world is a narrow bridge and the most important thing is to not be afraid.”
– Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
I am so excited about joining the HDS community. I can feel the love and closeness in every conversation I have. Yes, I’ve prepared for this in the traditional way — through over twenty years of education and
professional experience; but perhaps more importantly, I will bring my love of learning, my love of my Jewish community, and my love of finding paths and connections, even if at first they seem narrow or scary. I am excited to support our amazing staff as they build strong Jewish foundations for our students and families in a world that can sometimes feel narrow, but is always pointed toward the future.
“Kol ha’olam kulo, gesher tzar m’od.”
Wendy Lawrence, Ph.D.
Wendy Lawrence, Ph.D.