CARY ACADEMY - Key Persons
Ali joined the Cary Academy team in July 2018. An original North Carolina native, Ali most recently joins us from California where she spent six years managing annual and reunion giving efforts at Stanford University. Prior to her work at Stanford, she spent five years in alumni relations and major gifts at her alma mater, UNC-Chapel Hill. Along with her passion for educational fundraising, she also brings along her husband and two little girls, ages one and three, to our community.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Director of Equity & Community Engagement
Danielle joined Cary Academy in 2019 to lead our equity and inclusion efforts as well as direct our Center for Community Engagement. Prior to CA, Danielle served in senior leadership roles in enrollment management, communications, and development at several area independent schools. She is excited to continue the equity work that Cary Academy has focused on while at the same time continuing to help the school look at new ways to make this one of the most equitable schools in the Southeast. Danielle is married and enjoys multiple sports.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Director of Enrollment Management
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
As CFO, Deborah is responsible for all accounting, finance, human resources, and risk management functions as well as all auxiliary programs (dining, facilities rental, summer programs, and campus store) for the school. She has been in this role since the school's opening in 1997.
Prior to that, she had 12 years of accounting, human resources and business experience in a variety of environments including public accounting, corporate, non-profit, and educational organizations. She currently holds professional certifications as a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) and serves on the Board of Directors for the Mid-South Independent Schools Business Officer's Association (MISBO). She is married and has one son who is a graduate of Cary Academy.
Job Titles:
- Information Services Director
Donna Eason is dedicated to supporting and guiding students in their academic and extracurricular endeavors throughout high school. Prior to joining Cary Academy in 2005, Donna was an instructor of English at several community colleges and universities. While teaching English at Cary Academy, Donna also served as a Grade Level Leader, Dean of Students, and Assistant Head of Upper School. As an administrator, she leads and collaborates with faculty and staff to foster an inclusive and equitable environment. This was highlighted in her dissertation, which focused on addressing the needs of transgender and non-binary students. Furthermore, Donna places the highest importance on the social and emotional well-being of students and families, and this priority is a central part of her values and guiding principles.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board of Directors
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Director of Enrollment Management
Heather started her career in education as a child of independent school educators. A graduate of St. Pauls School for Girls in Baltimore, she continued "in the family business" at The Madeira School, Emerson College, and Purnell School before coming to Cary Academy. She has served many roles - dorm parent, director of student activities, English teacher and department chair, theater teacher, dean of students, and assistant head of upper school. Most recently, she concluded her 6-year tenure as Cary Academy's Head of Upper School and she is now thrilled to share the value of Cary Academy's mission with perspective families.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Josette Huntress has enjoyed a career that involves teaching at the middle school, high school, and university level. Growing up, she was an athlete, playing four varsity sports in high school and even playing two sports in college (basketball and softball). After representing Maine in the Miss America pageant, she decided to give back to her state and help improve the public school system. She began by contributing to the founding team of The Maine School of Science and Math as its first Director of Residential Life and Student Support Services. After getting her Master's Degree in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University (concentration: Gender, Culture, and Relational Development) she entered the independent school world and has not left since. Josette was an English Teacher and School Counselor at Summit School, a Psychology lecturer, and the Dean of Students at the Kamuzu College of Nursing in Lilongwe Malawi while simultaneously teaching English at Lilongwe Girls School, a girls' boarding school in Lilongwe. Back in the states, the Associate Head and Dean of Students at Saint Mary's School, an English teacher at St. Timothy's School, and most recently, the Assistant Head at Cary Academy Upper School. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Kents Hill School, a co-ed boarding school in Readfield, Maine.
Job Titles:
- Alumni Relations Director
Job Titles:
- Director of Technology & Innovation
Karen joined the Cary Academy community in 2015 as the Director of Technology and Innovation. Prior to coming to Cary Academy, Karen was the Director of Information Technology and Academic Technology Chair at Miss Porter's School in Connecticut. In her role as the Director of Technology and Innovation, Karen is responsible for overseeing all aspects of technology both in and out of the classroom and cultivating innovative ideas throughout campus. Karen is also serving as the Computer Science department chair.
Job Titles:
- Athletic Director
- Director of Athletics
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- PTAA President
Job Titles:
- Purchasing and Contracts Director
Job Titles:
- Director of Communications
Mandy Dailey joined the Cary Academy team in July of 2018. Prior to joining Cary Academy, she served as Director of Administration for the Humanities, Arts, Science, and Technology Alliance and Collaboratory (HASTAC), an academic social network dedicated to changing how we teach and learn formerly based at Duke University. In that capacity, she also directed the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation's Digital Media and Learning Competition, an annual $2M international competition designed to find and inspire the most innovative uses of digital media in service of learning in and out of the classroom. With over 18 years of communications and marketing experience, she looks forward to bringing Cary Academy's mission to life through robust storytelling. She is married with two small children.
Job Titles:
- Enrollment Management Associate
Job Titles:
- Founding Member
- Dean of Faculty
Martina joined Cary Academy as a founding member of the faculty, teaching German in grades 6-12 and also serving as world language department chair for both divisions. Prior to coming to Cary Academy, Martina taught at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, as well as Texas Tech University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In her role as dean of faculty, Martina is responsible for the ongoing review of the academic program at Cary Academy and the professional development of the faculty who bring that program to life. Martina also oversees Cary Academy's tenth-grade world language exchange program and enjoys traveling abroad each year with one of the exchange groups.
Since joining Cary Academy as Head of School in 2013, Dr. Ehrhardt has enjoyed working directly with students in a variety of ways, including sponsoring interns, teaching a global leadership class, chaperoning outdoors club trips, and coaching speech. Prior to coming to Cary Academy, Dr. Ehrhardt worked as a journalist in New Jersey before beginning his education career in Cyprus. He spent a combined 14 years at the Graded School in Brazil and then the American School in London, holding positions as a teacher, director of technology, assistant high school principal, middle school principal, and assistant head of school. He repatriated to the US to take on the headship at the Marshall School in his home state of Minnesota. He currently serves on the Board of Directors at the not-for-profit Virtual High School Collaborative in Maynard, Mass. He is married and a proud parent to two CA graduates.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Athletics Admin Assistant
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Campus Operations
Job Titles:
- Logistics Coordinator / Administrative Asst
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Board
- Member of the Previous Board
Job Titles:
- Director of Student Support Services & Upper School Counselor