Head of Upper School Justin Brandon and Science Department Co-Chair and seventh grade science teacher Angela Miklavcic Brandon will respectively be the Assistant Head of Academic Affairs and the new Assistant Head of Upper School at Ravenscroft School. Their departures were announced to the school community December 15, 2020 and are effective as of July 1, 2021. 

Ravenscroft is a pre-K-to-12 independent day school that describes their mission as “guided by our legacy of excellence, nurtures individual potential and prepares students to thrive in a complex and interdependent world” on their website. Located in Raleigh, North Carolina, Ravenscroft serves a student body of 1200 with an 100-acre campus.

Brandon began as Upper School Head in 2017, taking over from Interim Head Ruth Jurgensen, while Miklavcic began after Upper School Science Teacher Kara Schupp moved from the Middle School.

As the Assistant Head of Academic Affairs, Brandon will oversee department chairs, the accreditation process, and holistic review of the school’s academic programming. He will also work closely with their Head of School to oversee the school’s institutional vision along with running day-to-day operations in their absence. 

Ravenscroft reached out to Brandon in October 2020 when their search to fill the position began. Miklavcic began her search process in December, after Brandon was named.

 Brandon noted that he was not independently searching before he was approached by the school. “It was nice to be noticed for the work I’ve done in my career and have someone reach out to me,” Brandon said.

In his community-wide email, Principal Dan Frank highlighted Brandon’s work on professional development, faculty organization, and communication. He described his work on projects like Family Conference Day, Career Day, the Upper School Council, and the Upper School Diversity Task Force.

As a part of his work with diversity, equity, and inclusion, the Young Men of Color Symposium and the Administrators of Color Conference were developed with Brandon’s management and partnership. “He’s been instrumental in being a team member and a leader, in trying to take our Parker ideals and turn them into a reality,” Frank said. 

Brandon supported increased staffing for Robotics, Model UN, Student Government, and other extracurriculars, as well as for departments like technology and history. He held weekly meetings with Student Government to discuss student life and concerns and tried to stay visible and connected to students through both structural work and more casual traditions like Oreo Friday.

Junior Alex Carlin is one officer who worked with Brandon this year as a Senate Head. “He was receptive to what we had to say and we were productive,” Carlin said.

The last 14 months of Brandon’s time at Parker occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of which was spent with the Upper School learning remotely. After navigating the shift to online learning with faculty, Brandon oversaw the full return to the building on April 19, culminating in Prom and Graduation for the Class of 2021, along with the creation of the Remote Student council for those who remained at home.

Frank noted that Brandon worked not only to support Upper School but considered other divisions in bringing his constituents back to the building. “He had people who were still longing to find a way to actually be in the same place together and as soon as we were able to do that,” Frank said.

In addition to the pandemic, Brandon managed public fallout over several disciplinary incidents, including reports of sexual harassment following Gender Week in 2019 and text messages containing racist hate speech the same year. 

Carlin witnessed the aftermath of these controversial moments during Brandon’s time at Parker. “In the future, Parker has an opportunity to learn and grow from its past mistakes and become stronger when dealing with disciplinary actions,” Carlin said. “Now as it stands, I wouldn’t say that our school is fantastic at dealing with and confronting issues and instead we keep them under the rug.” 

Also during Brandon’s tenure was a nationwide creation of Instagram accounts meant to challenge private schools and predominately white institutions following the murder of George Floyd. @Fwpanonymous gave a platform to the voices of Parker community members, particularly those with stories of injustice, oppression, racism, misogyny, sexual assault, classism, ableism, and homophobia at the school. Posts highlighted experiences that took place both during and prior to Brandon’s headship.

Brandon acknowledged what he labeled as the gaps in school protocol that these experiences highlighted to him.“Each of those situations brought up other layers within our community,” Brandon said. “A lot of the responses were never just about that one situation. They were about several situations that led to this kind of outcry, which is a correct response to what was going on and to where people were.”

Following town halls and small-group discussion, Brandon assisted with changes to the handbook regarding definitions of hate speech, harassment and protocols for reporting incidents and more consistent discipline practices.“It took some pain to get there, but I think we’re a better community for recognizing and naming and growing from it.”

Brandon oversaw the prior-review of “The Parker Weekly” that was put in place by Frank and Jurgensen. A “Weekly” Editor-in-Chief at the time wrote that she believed it was in response to the publication of the editorial “Hear Us,” though no formal reason was given by administrators. This increased oversight was relaxed this spring.

“In relation to ‘The Weekly’ or any other student project, it just is his best, fair, honest feedback to help the student project be the best it can be,” Frank said. “It was always with the motivation of promoting learning, offering reflective perspectives that maybe hadn’t been considered before a chance to talk with him.”

Though he’s begun transition meetings with his team in Raleigh, Brandon has continued both his divisional work at Parker and his weekly meetings with Incoming Head of Upper School Chris Arnold. “The goal I have in any space is to make sure I leave it better than I found it,” Brandon said.

Brandon is not the only division head transitioning in this way – Head of Intermediate and Middle Schools John Novick is also leaving the school. “Both of us are leaving for promotions,” Brandon said. “Both of us have been sought after, because of the work that we’ve been able to do in our careers.” 

Between Parker, Latin, and the University of Chicago Lab, Brandon, who described the position as having a shorter job cycle, is the longest tenured Head of Upper School currently serving.

There are around six other administrative vacancies at Parker that have been or will be filled by the fall.

Miklavcic’s new role at Ravenscroft is similar to a Dean of Faculty position, where she will evaluate, observe, and coach teachers, work with department chairs, and on-board new Ravenscroft families. Before her time in the Middle School,  Miklavcic taught Upper School for almost 20 years and will make her return teaching one chemistry class and serving as an advisor at Ravenscroft.

Though Miklavcic stated she will miss middle schoolers, she added that she is excited for the change. “Things will be maybe a little bit less silly, but also the opportunity for deep serious discussions is a little bit different,” Miklavcic said. “Bigger kids have bigger problems.”

Beyond working in the Middle School, Miklavcic said she has overseen the robotics department, encouraged co-teaching and interdisciplinary work, and tried to make voices heard as a Co-Department Chair. 

Miklavcic has worked with her co-chair George Austin on these projects. “Although I’ve only known her for a short number of years, I feel like I’ve known her for decades, both as a colleague and as a friend, and I’m going to be missing her tremendously on both those levels,” Austin said.

Frank shared that he will miss Brandon’s collaboration, contributions, and humor. “He’s always very approachable, a real problem solver,” Frank said. “He’s been a full participant and a very generous spirit.”

Brandon, Miklavic, and their second-grade daughter Jozi Brandon will be relocating to North Carolina this summer. “I’m looking forward to more trees,” Miklavcic said. “It’s easier to get to green space there than it is here, less traffic between me and the trees.”

Both Brandon and Miklavcic are looking forward to applying Parker’s progressvive philosophy to Ravenscroft. “The progressive nature of Parker has been really helpful because it allows us to just try things and take risks in a way that I hadn’t experienced at prior schools,” Brandon said. “I’m looking forward to bringing that to Ravenscroft, when we start imagining and doing responsibly, instead of just imagining and never doing.”