March 1, 2021

Dear Gilman Community,

I am pleased to announce the hiring of Christina Kim to serve as our first Director of Wellness & Support. Our strategic plan prioritizes the promotion of students’ physical and mental health, and the creation of this new position was the chief recommendation of a task force charged with examining student emotional wellness at Gilman. Christina will work with the team of counselors, learning specialists, and health professionals at Gilman to oversee three critical elements of student wellness: program development, shared communication between appropriate people and departments, and coordinated responses to student health emergencies. We are very excited to fill this important new position that will help us realize an important part of our strategic vision.

Christina will be coming to us most immediately from The Park School here in Baltimore, where she is currently serving as a school counselor. Prior to moving to Baltimore last summer, Christina served for five years as the Director of Student Life at The Willows Community School, in the Los Angeles area. At Willows, Christina oversaw all social emotional programming for students, faculty, and parents. She was also a field instructor at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs, helping to bring graduate students in social work into elementary schools to support students. Christina moved to California from New York City, where she had worked for seven years as a teacher, learning specialist, and school social worker at The School at Columbia University. Her experience in New York had also included four years as a clinical social worker for the Jewish Board of Families & Children, as well as a few years teaching at the Manhattan School for Children. Christina holds numerous degrees: an undergraduate degree from New York University (during which she studied abroad in Seoul, South Korea), a Master of Education and a Master of Social Work through a dual degree program at Bank Street College of Education and Columbia University School of Social Work, and another Master of Education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

We had a very strong pool of candidates for this position, which, I believe, reflects the growing understanding of student wellness as an integral part of the educational experience and development of our boys. I want to take the opportunity here to thank the task force for advocating for this new and important role. I also want to thank Assistant Head of School Peter Kwiterovich for leading the search; School Nurse Edie Meacham, Director of Counseling John Mojzisek, and Director of Academic Services PK-12 Stephanie Dennis for their close involvement; and all of the faculty, administrators, and parents who interviewed candidates and provided thoughtful feedback. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not single out Edie and John, who have been envisioning this position for several years and whose fingerprints are all over the job description.

Christina will join the Gilman team officially on July 1, and we look forward to welcoming her, her husband Mark, and their twin sons, to our community. For now, please join me in congratulating Christina on her appointment.

Be well,

Henry P. A. Smyth
Headmaster

In Tuo Lumine Lumen