Haverford School's new lower school head looks to bring 'fresh eyes' to the role

By Lisa Dukart, Associate Editor, Philadelphia Business Journal

Jenni Scoggin stepped into the role at Haverford School in July after nearly two decades in education. She talks what drew her to the school, some of her early goals and her approach to technology in the classrooms.

After spending the first five years of her career in the music industry, Jenni Scoggin felt apull toward education, one which ultimately prompted her to change fields.

A North Carolina educator for two decades, Scoggin spent five years in Wake County Public Schools and the past 14 years at Carolina Friends School. At the latter, she was most recently head of its lower school, a role she has now taken on at the all-boys Haverford School. This is Scoggin’s first foray into single-sex education and to Greater Philadelphia.

A native of Missouri, Scoggin holds a bachelor’s degree from Trevecca Nazarene University and a master’s degree in early childhood education from Belmont University, both in Tennessee. She stepped into the role at Haverford School on July 15, leading the 300-student lower school which spans pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. Scoggin takes over for Pam Greenblatt, who is now the school’s inaugural assistant head of school for academics.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

What drew you to Haverford?

One of my passions is literacy education instruction. I feel like I've talked about the Haverford School to many of my colleagues, even down in North Carolina, and they're a leader in structured literacy and following the research that's out there about how the brain learns to read. ... As I got to know the school and came for the interview day, I was really encouraged to find that not only is it intellectually focused on excelling in that, [but] there's also this real emphasis on the social emotional piece as well, which really spoke to me too.

Tell us more about this approach to literacy education.

There's a very connected and strategic way that we make sure that children are progressing through their education in terms of literacy, making sure that we're building the foundational skills so that when they go to the next year, the next grade, they're prepared and they're ready.

What drew you to a single-sex education model?

I think on a personal side, I am a mom to a boy. My husband and I fostered children for awhile and had several boys that we cared for. I do find that even some of the boys who I taught, there's just an energy. It's different and it's exciting.

How have your past experiences helped prepare you for this role?

All of those roles have given me a lot of time to build my muscles and what it takes to connect with families and to connect with children. Parents dropping their kids off everyday and leaving them in our care, it's such a privilege to be a part of that. Having those times in those different settings [allows you to see] different perspectives, different stories, taking in children with different stories and perspectives. Learning how to navigate that, all of those experiences, I think has made me into the leader that I am today, into the person, educator, I am today. I take all those experiences with me into this role.

How have you been getting to know the Haverford community as you step into this role?

I spent some time observing in the classrooms and then connecting with the teachers and also getting to meet some of the boys, which was really great. Preparing for the role, I've been thinking through where are the spaces I need to cultivate areas of listening and really knowing that can't happen in a day. ... I've really tried to think through what my entire year could look like and how that listening could take place in different places and through different groups, different people.

What are some of those goals you’ve set for your first year in the role?

The goals have definitely been to take in the information in that listening and learning. Where are the places that are really celebrated in the work that's happening and where are the opportunities for growth? I feel like as a new person in a leadership role, you have this window where your eyes are fresh. You'll never be able to see it this way again, so I really do feel like for myself and for the people who I'm meeting, I have an opportunity to have a lens that I won't ever have again. That listening and learning and writing down what I'm seeing and then processing that with my colleagues, processing that with the faculty is, I believe, part of my big work this year.

What’s your approach to technology in the classroom, particularly for younger students?

I do think that technology gives us a lot of opportunities. It's a tool and I try to approach anything that is a tool and not assign it to a good or evil category, but rather to think about it thoughtfully. What are the ways that it's able to support the learning that we're doing and what are the ways that it's not so supportive? ... When we use something like a computer or an iPad, I think it's really important to think about what is the ultimate goal that we're trying to accomplish with this? And does this really meet that goal?

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