Enjoying the Ride

Late that morning, though, Susan Wiley sat at her desk, organizing material for an afternoon meeting, answering an occasional phone call and smiling, which she does often.

 

For almost two decades now, Susan has been the assistant to the head of school at Collegiate. She manned the post for 14 of Keith Evans’ 15 years and then Steve Hickman’s five. Now, as Penny Evins moves into the corner office overlooking the Flippen Hall lawn, she’s still in action, looking forward to another term and thoroughly enjoying the ride.

 

“It’s all good,” she said on this day when the north end of campus was very quiet and few cars dotted the parking lots. “I love my job.”

 

Before Susan signed on back in 2000, she worked for a brokerage firm in downtown Richmond Her husband Andy is a Collegiate graduate, class of 1977. Their older son Colscon ‘11 was in Kindergarten. Their younger son Nash ‘15 was in preschool.

 

She was looking for an opportunity where vacations lined up better and where sharing moments in her children’s lives wasn’t a logistical challenge. She liked Collegiate’s ambiance, culture and personality. Plus, her mother-in-law, Betty Wiley had served in the same position, first under Mac Pitt, then Rob Hershey, from 1973 until 1995, so she knew the drill.

 

The fit was natural, seamless. She hit the ground running and has hardly let up, adjusting instinctively to changes, guiding those with whom she works most closely through the “ropes course” of administration and providing a steady hand every step of the way.

 

“I’ve learned that every head of school is very different,” Susan said. “They all bring different perspectives, which is good for the school. And I’ve learned that it’s a different place than when my mother-in-law was here. She’d have her summers off when Mr. Pitt was at Camp Virginia (which he directed for many years).”

 

Susan welcomes the opportunity to work closely with her third head of school. After all, change is the only constant. Right?

 

“It energizes you,” she said. “Each head has their own focus, their own energy. You look at things that you’ve been doing in a different way when you have a new head of school.”

 

Her job often involves working in two school years simultaneously, the current one as well as the next because planning, both short term and long, are essential to efficiency. Case in point: while the last term is over, the annual administrative retreat occurs July 15-17. Then, there’ll be a bit of a break, then the action heats up and won’t relent for a while. Never a dull moment, you might say.

 

“Never,” she said. “Actually, summer for this office is probably one of the busiest times of the year: bringing on a new board chair (John Martin), new head of school, new trustees. And just getting everything ready for the opening of school.

 

“I’ve done it enough years to know what the rhythm is and what we have on our agenda, but there’s a lot of preparation. Plus, we renovated offices, so we had to move out and move back in.”

 

So what’s kept Susan at her post so long? And what has her looking excitedly to the future?

 

“Honestly, it’s the people,” she said. “Everybody says that, I know. But it’s the camaraderie. It’s getting here, getting a cup of coffee, seeing what’s on the plate. It’s never the same. Even though there’s a routine for the school year and our projects, there’s always something new and different, something always changing, interesting, and fun.

 

“The days go by fast. It’s a great place: the faculty and staff, the students, the parents. So, yeah … it’s good to be a Cougar.”

     -- Weldon Bradshaw