Our Team
Bernie, Co-founder of The Leader Network was, until this year, Head of School at Lakeside School in Seattle, Washington, serving from 1999 to 2022. Bernie has an exemplary record of leadership in independent school education, commitment to community service, diversity and inclusion, and scholarship in history and international studies. Among his recent initiatives is The Downtown School: A Lakeside School, which opened in fall 2018. The co-educational high school, three years in the making, offers a high-quality academic education to a diverse body of academically talented students.
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Prior to his arrival at Lakeside, Bernie served for seven years as both Upper School Principal and Assistant Head of School for International Education at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., where he also taught a Western civilization class and promoted initiatives on educational excellence, diversity, and community expectations.
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From 1984 to 1992, Bernie was History Department chair and Director of Summer Programs at The Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland. At Landon, he led a number of task forces and committees on school governance and curricular improvement and was also, as a history teacher, awarded the Senator Danforth Excellence in Teaching Award (1990). Before joining The Landon School faculty, Bernie worked as history department chair at the American schools in Israel (1980-1982) and Switzerland (1977-1980).
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Bernie’s educational background includes a BA cum laude from Boston University, an M.A. in international relations from Georgetown University, and an M.Phil. from George Washington University in European history. At Lakeside he has taught modern European history and an elective history course on the Holocaust and genocide.
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In February 2021, he completed 12 years of service on the National Association of Independent Schools Board of Trustees, the past three years as chair. Bernie was founding board chair (2011-2015) for the Global Online Academy (GOA), an innovative and collaborative venture established by leading independent schools to mount cutting-edge online courses for high school students. He currently chairs GOA’s Strategy Committee. He also served as a board member of School Year Abroad, and Rainier Scholars.