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Harpeth Hall School Leadership

Jess Hill, Head of School

For more than 150 years, Harpeth Hall has held true to the essential idea that girls deserve an excellent education full of possibilities and purpose.

We cultivate a school community that encourages academic curiosity, fosters belonging, and prepares girls to become purposeful young women ready to make a meaningful difference in the world around them.

We guide 5th through 12th grade girls to discover what it means to think critically, to lead confidently, and to live honorably at this particular time and place in history.

At Harpeth Hall, girls learn to have confidence in their opinions and respect the power of their voices. They also learn to listen for learning and understanding. Here, all students are seen, heard, and valued.

We don't strive for perfection, instead we value progress. We encourage students to take healthy risks — even if they make mistakes — because we all learn best that way. We know that building confidence and resilience go hand in hand with learning to lead ourselves and others. 

In the middle school, our girls stand on a firm foundation of skills in STEM, humanities, and visual and performing arts as they are encouraged to go beyond the curriculum with our SEEK independent study program. In the upper school, our students explore a deeper understanding of the liberal arts curriculum and become proximate with the world around them through WinterimPublic Purpose, or participating in a global education.  

Harpeth Hall students — intelligent, ambitious, and determined — are the leaders of tomorrow, inspired by the female trailblazers of today.

We welcome you warmly.

 

 

Jess Hill
Head of School


2022-2023 Leadership Team
 


 


2022-2023 Board of Trustees
 


 

 

Crissy Wieck ’96, Chair and President
Trudy Ward Carpenter ’76, Vice Chair
Amit Misra, Vice Chair
Noni Nielsen ’93, Treasurer
Frank Majors, Secretary
Jane Berry Jacques ’72, Immediate Past Chair and President

Jane Allen
Greg Averbuch
Bahar Azhdari ’00
Melanie Patterson Blank ’82
Michelle Gaskin Brown ’01
Kate Sherrard Chinn ’93
Mary Britton Thompson Cummings ’93
Adelaide Grace Davis ’79
Shani Dowell
David Fitzgerald
Benjamin S. Gambill III
Greg Hagood
Elizabeth Robbins Hawkins ’82
Hal Hess

Harpeth Hall seal

Whitson Lowe, M.D.
Lauren Melkus ’96
John Morris, M.D.
Katie Groos Nelson ’80
Arie Nettles, Ph.D.
Reid Patton ’14
Barbara Keith Brown Payne ’85
Michelle Wolfe Proctor ’89
Amy Richards
Jay Sangervasi
Alison Smith ’79
Dana Deaton Verner, M.D. ’95
Chris Whitson
Tammy Wolcott ’81

Ex officio

Jess Hill, Head of School
Kendra Abkowitz Brooks ’03, Alumnae Association Board President
Ellen Green Hoffman ’04 , Alumnae Association Board President-elect
Kristen Meltesen, Faculty Representative
Ellen Maguire Vick ’89, National Advisory Council Chair
Ansel Cline, Parents Association President
Mary Cady Bolin, Parents Association President-elect

Honorary Trustees

Jean Ann Banker
Melinda Owen Bass ’58
Nancy Graves Beveridge M.D. ’80
Varina Frazer Buntin ’61
Delta Anne Davis ’73
Patty Litton Delony ’66
Robert S. Doolittle
Barbara Richards Haugen ’68
Amy Grant Gill ’78
John Rivers Ingram
Martha Rivers Ingram
Robert Weeks Kitchel
Kenneth J. Melkus

Britton H. Nielsen
Norris Nielsen
Richard W. Oliver
Barbara Massey Rogers ’56
Susan Willingham Simons ’60
W. Lucas Simons
Mary Schlater Stumb ’53
Jackie Glover Thompson ’64
Emily Cate Tidwell, Pharm.D.  ’75
Peggy Smith Warner ’54
Dudley Brown White ’49
Reese Witherspoon ’94

Deceased Honorary Trustees

Martin S. Brown, Sr.
Linda Williams Dale ’56
Patricia C. Frist
Robert C. Hilton
Frances Caldwell Jackson ’51
Idanelle McMurry ’43
Robert E. McNeilly, Jr.
Eugene D. Pargh