Joan Magnetti Elected President of Headmasters' Association

03/06/2008

Greenwich, Connecticut -- At its annual meeting in Philadelphia, the Headmasters' Association of the United States elected Sr. Joan Magnetti, headmistress of Convent of the Sacred Heart, as president of the 115-year-old national organization. 

Sr. Magnetti succeeds Tyler C. Tingley, headmaster of Phillips Exeter Academy, to a one-year term as president.  She has served on the board as secretary.

Sr. Magnetti was first elected to membership in the organization in 1987, when she was headmistress of Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart in Princeton, N.J.  In 1990, she was appointed headmistress of Convent of the Sacred Heart, Greenwich, an independent college preparatory school for girls from preschool through grade 12. 

When it was founded in 1893, the Headmasters' Association was all male.  Over time, it has changed, admitting women to its ranks in the 1980s and, more recently, working to further the needs of both public and independent school heads.  Independent school heads comprise 75 percent of the membership, while principals of public schools constitute 25 percent.     

Today, the organization is still strongly male with only 25 percent of the membership comprised of women.  Sr. Magnetti is the only member belonging to a Catholic women's religious congregation.

Sr. Magnetti graduated from Manhattanville College with a B.A. in government.  Upon graduation, she entered the Society of the Sacred Heart, an international religious congregation dedicated to the education of youth.  She earned an M.A. in theology from Union Theological Seminary and has had extensive experience as a classroom teacher, academic dean and curriculum director. 

Active in national educational associations, she has served on the boards of Manhattanville College, the National Association of Independent Schools, the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools where she was president for four years, the Commission on Independent Schools for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, and the Board of Governors of Fairfield College Preparatory School.  She is past president of the Headmistresses' Association of the East, and has served on many boards of independent and Network of Sacred Heart Schools and colleges.

Currently, she serves on the boards of Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Union Theological Seminary, and she is a member of the Board of Advisors of Carney, Sandoe and Associates.  She has been the recipient of many awards from professional organizations, including the New Jersey Business and Professional Women Award, the YWCA TWIN (Tribute to Women in Industry) Award, the Greenwich YWCA's BRAVA Award for commitment to the educational needs of youth.  In April 2007, she received the Woman of Conscience Award from the Associated Alumnae of the Sacred Heart.