Head of School

Dear Friends,

Welcome to Wildwood. Since joining the school community in 2007, it has been my good fortune to work with colleagues, some of whom have been at Wildwood School for three decades, and a dedicated Board of Trustees, all of whom are committed to maintaining Wildwood School as a constantly evolving institution, growing and changing to meet the needs of the time.

Every day, this incredible community works tirelessly in service to the students in our care now, while stewarding the school in service to the students who’ll benefit from the Wildwood School that will be. One thing is clear, especially after the events of recent years: the mission, philosophy, and pedagogical and other foundations laid in 1971 at our founding, in 2000 with our secondary expansion, and every year between and since have served the school well and prepared us to meet this moment. 

Particularly in times like these, I’m reminded of a quote I’d read in the years after making the switch from public schools, where I was educated and later taught, to independent education. In a sort of raison d'être for all of us in independent schools, Lucy Madeira Wing said of the girls’ school she’d founded in 1906 to prepare girls to lead women’s colleges: 

“The excuse of a private school in a democracy is that it shall be a laboratory, a place for the demonstration of old experiments and the trying of new. It is a place of freedom.”

Wildwood School has been that place for over 50 years. I invite you to explore Wildwood and experience the richness and depth of our program and community. Our graduates and our students carry that spirit and mission outward and forward in ways that most of us will never know. 

Placing students at the center of their own learning, a hallmark of progressive education, is no longer a negotiable add-on in schools. Students must be required to do something with the knowledge they acquire, not simply demonstrate mastery of content.   - Landis Green

About Landis

Head of School Landis Green’s work in schools began in 1991. Having previously led a public-private partnership school for 500 9-12 graders in Maine, Landis has served as Wildwood School’s head since 2007. Beginning in public schools as a middle school teacher in rural Pennsylvania, Landis then continued his career at Wilmington Friends School in Delaware, where he served in a succession of administrative roles. A first-generation college graduate, Landis earned his undergraduate degree at Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and his graduate degree in education at the University of Pennsylvania. Landis has been a visiting head at the Klingenstein Center for Independent School Leadership at Columbia University, and has served on multiple independent school, regional, and national association boards. Most recently he served on the boards of The Heads Network, an association promoting women in leadership, and the California Association of Independent schools (CAIS), where he also served as chair of the board of directors.