There’s been a new face on the campus of The Healdsburg School this fall: Tracie Mastronicola, 46, has officially become the fourth Head of School for the 14-year-old independent TK-8 school at 33 Healdsburg Ave.
“The two terms are sort of synonymous in the fact that you’re sort of in charge of leading a group of students and a group of faculty and a group of families through their time at an institution,” Mastronicola said. “You’re really in charge of thinking through and shepherding these really important years from TK to eight,” roughly from the age of 4 to the onset of the teens.
Those are crucial years, but Mastronicola’s experience in education to this point suggests she’s the one for the job in Healdsburg.
“We’ve known about Healdsburg from a tourist perspective,” she said in a conversation this week. “I came up here a lot during Covid, but certainly didn’t know it in the sense that I lived here.”
Mastronicola comes to town most recently from San Francisco, where she worked as Associate Head of School at the San Francisco Friends School after serving as a middle school math and science teacher. Originally from New York, and educated at the University of Virginia, she had thought about the next step in her career but hadn’t known much about Healdsburg, and certainly not about The Healdsburg School—THS to its friends, family and faculty.
The fast pace of life in San Francisco conditioned her to expect something else fast-paced, until a friend urged her to consider the Healdsburg position. “I just didn’t take time to think, maybe we could move out of the city. Maybe I could move my entire family, maybe we could leave and live in Healdsburg! It seemed like a vacation spot to us,” she said.
But she took the plunge, went through an extensive, and what she called “grueling,” interview process, and was picked to replace Andy Davies, the departing Head of School. So Mastronicola and her spouse, Alyssa, found a house on West Dry Creek Road for themselves and their two children, boy twins, who are now in third grade at THS.
Half the Size
Mastronicola recognizes that THS is, first of all, half the size of San Francisco Friends School, which means one classroom per grade level. The total enrollment is now 220, with classes from TK (transitional kindergarten, generally 4-year-olds) to eighth grade; 10 years of schooling in all.
There is an 8-to-1 student:teacher ratio, 30% of students identify as students of color and 34% of students receive tuition assistance. And 100% know how to compost, according to the school’s web page at thehealdsburgschool.org.
Sandi Passalaqua, formerly a teacher at Foss Creek Elementary, started The Healdsburg School in 2007 and served as its first head. The education model is a “constructivist, inquiry-based learning philosophy,” where students are “encouraged to construct their own understanding through authentic, hands-on experiences.”
Its philosophy or mission is, “We teach children how to think, not what to think.” An independent school, it is certified by the International Baccalaureate Organization of Schools—it is an IB school to those in the know.
THS also earned accreditation from the California Association of Independent Schools (CAIS) following a rigorous evaluation. Established in 1941, the CAIS evaluation process ensures that independent schools meet and maintain high ethical and academic standards.
The small size means that students get to know their cohort deeply over the years, if they attend the full 10 years. The school was built from the eighth grade down, meaning only now are the graduating students spending their entire elementary and middle school years at THS.
Though there’s but one “class” per grade, several teachers help provide an expanded selection of 24 electives, ranging from Performing Arts and Fine Arts to Coding, Culinary Arts and Ethics, through STEM-focused coursework complemented by an arts program.
Citizenship
THS even offers Mandarin, in addition to Spanish, as a language focus to prepare students for later learning. “I think our founder was really interested in taking a broad approach to education,” Mastronicola said. “We’re an IB school, so we’re constantly thinking about what the world is around us in a smaller community, but also like our far-flung community. What does it mean to be a global citizen?”
Closer to home, THS is also a local citizen. It puts on student plays, offers open houses and tours for interested parents, and of course participates in the HFFC Fair’s Twilight Parade with a flatbed full of Bears—the student mascot. The new Head of School herself ran for the first time in this year’s Turkey Trot, setting a PR (personal record) at the challenging 5K race. “I was very slow for most people, but really fast for me!” she said.
Still, she regrets she hasn’t had as much free time as she’d like to spend in Healdsburg, although after her busy first six months as Head of School at THS, she appreciated the winter break that just passed. “Yeah, it’s been a wonderful holiday. It’s been fun to slow down and actually be in town for a minute,” she said.
In 2021, the school purchased property just south of town on Old Redwood Highway, where it is preparing to build a new campus.
THS students return to class Jan. 6, while students in Healdsburg District schools return the next day, on Jan. 7.
Visit thehealdsburgschool.org.
