Head of School Search

List of 8 items.

• Kevin Burns P ’04

  Honorary Trustee and Search Committee Co-Chair

  Kevin Burns has worked as a business owner for 30 plus years. Kevin is currently semi-retired and the managing partner of a property management group. He is the proud father of two adult children Meghan (41) and Benjamin (38 & CVA alumnus ’04) and the proud grandfather of 2 granddaughters and 3 grandsons ranging in age from 2 - 6 years old. He was a member of the Carrabassett Valley Academy Board of Trustees from 2005 - 2021 serving in various leadership roles including Board Chair from 2007 - 2013 and 2018 - 2020. Kevin received the King Cummings Service Award in 2013 and was granted the status of Honorary Trustee of Carrabassett Valley Academy in 2021. He had the privilege of working with two CVA Head of Schools, John Ritzo and Kate Webber Punderson ’89 during his Board Chair tenure. Kevin was a member of the Search Committee during the transition from John Ritzo to Kate Webber Punderson. Kevin lives in Falmouth, Maine with his wife Mary of 46 years. Together they enjoy traveling, getting lots of time with family, and spending as much time as possible in Carrabassett Valley at their Sugarloaf home enjoying the Sugarloaf area and all the great opportunities it provides.

• Peter C. Smith ’08

  Treasurer, Board of Trustees and Search Committee Co-Chair

  Peter Smith, CVA class of 2008, spent 6 years post college working in finance between Philadelphia and Boston before making a career change to become an airline pilot. He has served on the CVA Board of Trustees for 6 years, 4 of which have been in the capacity as Treasurer. Prior to joining the board, Peter was on multiple sub-committees for the Academy including roles with alumni relations and annual giving. He is motivated by the important role CVA plays in the greater Sugarloaf community and is focused on maintaining financial stability for the school for many years to come.

• Sean Dundon

  Vice Chair, Board of Trustees

  Sean Dundon was Co-Founder of a commercial real estate due diligence firm for 25 years prior to pivoting to his current business development role at a fiber-optic broadband software firm. Sean has connections to several CVA community and board members as well as expertise as Board Chair for an independent school for many years. Sean currently serves on the Board of Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI), a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), located in Brunswick, Maine. Sean was also a member and past-Chair of the City of Portland Planning board from 2013-2022. Sean has been a member of the CVA Human Resource and Governance (HRG) committee since joining the board in 2016 and now serves as the HRG Chair as well as Vice-President of the CVA Board. In his free time, Sean is an avid tennis player and skier and recently welcomed his first grandchild.

• Tim Flight ’95

  Secretary, Board of Trustees

  Tim Flight grew up spending weekends skiing and snowboarding at Sugarloaf. His connection with CVA traces back to his time as a Weekend Program participant and later as a boarding student. Following his graduation, Tim continued his involvement with CVA by coaching the Weekend Program. Many years down the road, he became a member of the Board of Trustees and is currently Secretary of the Executive Committee. Currently, Tim works as a freelance software engineer, operating from his home in Carrabassett Valley. This dream locale has been his near full-time residence since his days as a CVA student-athlete. He lives with his wife, Anne, an Art teacher at Stratton School. His deep-rooted ties to the community extend to his roles as a member of the Town of Carrabassett Planning Board and History Committee. Additionally, he serves on the Board of Directors for the town's public library, which also serves as CVA's library.

• Paul Fritzson

  Board of Trustees

  Paul Fritzson retired after a career as an executive with an international supermarket company. A Sugarloaf skier since 1977, he became a Carrabassett Valley resident following his 2005 retirement. Shortly thereafter he joined CVA’s Board of Trustees where he continued to serve prior to retiring from the Board in 2023. He served as Board Vice-Chair, Finance Committee Chair, member of the Executive Committee, and Chair of the Building Committee during the construction of the Bill & Joan Alfond Competition Center. A former Sugarloaf Ironman, he continues to ski virtually every day the mountain is open - and occasionally when it isn’t. When not playing in the snow, he and his wife, Kim, enjoy traveling with friends, with a particular fondness for St John in the USVI. At home, they are kept busy chasing their “kids,” Walter and Stanley, two extremely rambunctious Bernedoodles.

• Lindy MacKinnon Gruen ’92

  Chair, Board of Trustees

  Lindy MacKinnon Gruen ’92 has been a senior administrator in independent schools for 27 years. For the past 11 years, she has served as the Director of Administrative and Strategic Affairs at The Fessenden School in West Newton, MA, a day and boarding school for boys in Pre-Kindergarten through grade nine. In this chief of staff position, she helps facilitate the smooth functioning of the School and prioritizes strategic communications and the implementation of resources. Prior to this role, Lindy served as Fessenden’s Director of Communications for seven years. Before Fessenden, she spent nine years at Shore Country Day School in Beverly, MA, as the Director of Communications. Prior to her time in independent schools, Lindy worked in public relations for a business intelligence software firm, and in marketing for corporate accounts in the beverage and oil refinement industries. She has served on the CVA Board of Trustees since 2018 and became the first CVA alumna to Chair the Board of Trustees in 2020. She received a BA in communications from Boston College.

• Gilly Hitchcock P ’06, P ’10

  Former Board of Trustees

  Gilly Hitchcock, recently retired, sold an executive recruiting business specializing in pulp and paper industry executive searches. Early in her career she worked in the industry in engineering roles. Gilly is a parent to two CVA graduates, both of whom were day students as the family lived in Carrabassett Valley. She was very involved in the Parent Organization, fund raising, and more during their tenure in school from 2002 through 2010. Both children went on to college and skied successfully in their disciplines. Gilly served on the CVA Board for several years until 2021. She is currently a board member of the local hospital, Farmington Memorial Hospital. Gilly and her family enjoy spending retirement time between a home in Kingfield along the river and a home in Brooksville on Penobscot Bay, with their golden retrievers. 

• Shelby MacLeod, P ’26

  Parent, Weekend Program Parent

  Shelby MacLeod has been a Sugarloafer since 1982 and raced alpine and nordic in high school with many skiers who came out of the CVA program. Her daughter Logan attended CVA for 7th, 8th, and 9th grade, racing alpine, and her son Charlie is a boardercross athlete who aspires to go to CVA in 2024 after he completes his final year with the weekend program. When Shelby isn’t skiing, she can be found managing Brand, Corporate Communications, and Live Events for IDEXX, a publicly traded animal health company based in Westbrook, Maine.