Edward Amos, Dean of the Upper School, announced his resignation to faculty and staff on March 1. In the email he said he accepted a position as Assistant Principal at a public middle school in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He declined to comment on the school’s name.

“In my PhD program right now I’m studying education, mainly urban education and ways to improve it,” Amos said. “Upon completion I plan on stepping into a district or state position and be a larger system-level leader. That’s kind of the ultimate goal. However, there are some steps that you need to take in order to get there. You can’t just go from dean of students to that job. It was an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.”

Amos is in his second year as Parker’s dean–and he said that leaving after two years wasn’t the plan originally. “I came in, and Joe Ruggiero knew I was in my PhD program and that this wasn’t my final stop,” Amos said. “But he and I both talked about three to five years because that’s enough time to make a difference, and that’s enough time to establish yourself and to learn all that there is to learn and really master the position. It just didn’t work out that way.”

Amos decided to accept the new position in late February, and originally he wanted to keep his choice private until late April.

“Everything happened so quickly,” Amos said. “I wanted to keep it contained, but it would look odd if they put my position online without me announcing it. So I had to announce it.  It was also a staffing decision because I wanted the administration to be able to find quality candidates before it was too late.”

In his remaining time at Parker, Amos hopes to get everything organized.

“My main objective is to ensure a smooth transition,” Amos said. “I want to make sure I have everything in order for the next dean to step in and take over and do ten times better. I’m making sure that everything is explicit in terms of what I do, so the timing of everything I do, all the contacts from retreats to Ventra cards.”

Amos said that he has faced challenges during his time at Parker. “There have been a lot of challenges, a lot,” Amos said. “And kind of taking those in stride and not having those affect your next decision or impact the next challenge you’ll have to overcome really builds your endurance for those speed bumps without having them derail everything you do.”

Amos hopes that the internship program he began planning will flourish under his successor. “I really felt strongly about that, and I was really energized about it, and I thought it could be done in this short amount of time,” Amos said. “I think it’s a great program and I really hope that the next dean will consider it, just to see what they can do with it.”

The internship program would partner Parker with 10 to 15 outside organizations in order to provide seniors with internships in the spring and summer.

While he may be leaving Parker, Amos hopes to bring some of the school to his new job. “There are a lot of things that are unique, idiosyncratic, to the school,” Amos said. “The overall experience here is really unlike anything else. You have the retreats and the history and the Big Brothers and Sisters Program. I hope to start some of these programs at a new school.”