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DONNA WINCHESTERMary Harden Booker, 65, wanted to wrap up several projects before leaving. One was finding a new upper division head.
ST. PETERSBURG - The leader of one of the county's most prestigious private schools is stepping down after a 33-year career.
Mary Harden Booker, head of school at Shorecrest Preparatory, has announced her decision to retire at the end of the 2004-05 school year. A national search firm has been hired to find her replacement.
Booker, who is 65, began thinking about retiring three years ago or so. The school's board of trustees asked her to stay through next year.
"We are in the middle of so many projects," she said. "The school is thriving. It's an excellent, wonderful place. It's just that time in my life when I'm ready to make a change."
Shortly before she announced her retirement, Booker informed parents and students that she had found a replacement for Shorecrest's upper division head Jim Craven, who is retiring in May.
Stephen Manella, former assistant upper division head and director of college counseling at Greenwich Academy in Connecticut, will begin work with the upper division leadership team on July 1.
Manella earned a bachelor's degree in English from Kenyon College and a master's degree in English education from New York University. He was selected from a field of candidates interviewed by the school's search committee during an extensive national search.
Booker joined the Shorecrest faculty as a fifth-grade teacher in 1973. She became lower division head in 1977 and was appointed interim head of school in 1989. The school's board of trustees named her head of school following a national search five months later.
In a letter to the school community dated March 30, Shorecrest board of trustees chairwoman Mary Anne Reilly praised Booker for her commitment to students, families, faculty and staff. She noted that it is difficult to think of the school without simultaneously thinking of Booker.
"The respect she has earned can be seen in the longevity of service of our teachers, the number of years our families continue to enroll their children at Shorecrest, and the increasing number of alumni who return to Shorecrest with their own children," she wrote.
During Booker's tenure as head of school, Shorecrest's population has increased by 25 percent to its current student body of 978. Ten Advanced Placement courses and an arts and humanities department were added at the school, where tuition is more than $12,000 a year in the upper grades.
Additionally, a $9-million capital campaign transformed facilities for the school's prekindergarten through 12th-grade students. Booker spearheaded a master plan to redesign the 28-acre campus at 5101 First St. NE about six years ago.
Upgrades have included a 16,000-square-foot building for fifth and sixth grades surrounded by an outdoor common area; a new football and soccer field with an eight-lane track and a new baseball field; and a 35,000-square-foot performing arts theater housing a smaller 150-seat theater, two libraries and a student activity center.
Construction on a new lower division began last spring. The $3.5-million addition should be certified for occupancy May 1 and will be ready for students in the fall.
Ashley Gairing, the school's communications director, said it is doubtful that one person will be able to fill Booker's shoes.
"She has provided us with such stability and outstanding vision," Gairing said. "We're happy for her, but we're heartbroken to have her leave."