Meet Our Head of School

Mrs. Doreen Kelly leads the leadership team of Ravenscroft and has been Head of School since July 2003. She joined the Ravenscroft faculty in July 1999 as the director of the Lower School. Mrs. Kelly is a Board Certified (BCC) Executive Leadership Coach.

Mrs. Kelly graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in English and a Master's degree in Education. She also studied for two years at Villanova University. She was also a Division I volleyball player.

Prior to joining Ravenscroft, she served as Upper School Director of Studies, Head of Middle School, English teacher and volleyball coach over a 10-year career at Trinity-Pawling School, an all-boys boarding/day school in Pawling, New York. Prior to her responsibilities at Trinity-Pawling School, she taught English as a Second Language for two years at D'Education Populaire, France.

Memberships:

• Trustee, SAIS
• Trustee, NCAIS
• Member and Chair, SAIS Evaluation Teams
• Member, Southern Headmasters' Association
• Trustee, Spoleto Study Abroad
• Mentor, NAIS Aspiring Heads Program

Prior Memberships:

• Faculty, NAIS Institute for New Heads  
• Trustee, SAIS Accreditation Committee
• Faculty, SAIS New Teacher Institute
• District Leader, The Heads Network (founded as National Association of Principals of Schools for Girls, which includes coed schools)
• Faculty member, Administrative Leadership Seminar for Women
• Former Trustee, Note in the Pocket (a nonprofit organization providing clothing and dignity to impoverished and homeless children in Wake County)

Mrs. Kelly and her husband, Chris, have three children, all Ravenscroft alumni as well as a special family member from the Sudan named Aru Kok who attended Ravenscroft for a year. Their daughter, Erin '15,  works for a global IT firm in Raleigh. Their son Sean '11 works in independent school education and is married to Melis Tanik Kelly '10 and have son. Ryan '09, a professional basketball player, and his wife Lindsay Cowher Kelly '09 live around the world with their three children. Aru lives in Australia where is he has just completed his Master's Degree. Doreen and Chris Kelly reside on campus with their grand-dog Dug and grand-cat CC.