Rye Country Day School is proud to announce that Dr. Meredith deChabert, Rye Country Day’s Assistant Head of School for Academics, Institutional Research, and Data, will be the 2025 Upper School Commencement Ceremony speaker. Dr. deChabert will offer her insights and words of wisdom to our graduates before beginning her next chapter as Head of The Gordon School in East Providence, Rhode Island, in July 2025.

Dr. deChabert received her P.h.D. in Education, Culture, and Society from the University of Pennsylvania and her B.A. in Anthropology from Columbia University. 

Having launched her independent school career teaching at the Foxcroft School in Middleburg, VA, Dr. deChabert joined RCDS in 2005 as an Upper School English teacher. Three years later, in 2008, she became the School’s first Director of Diversity. In 2010, she was named Assistant Head of School in addition to her diversity role. In 2013, Dr. deChabert added the duties of Middle School Principal to her continued Assistant Head work, holding the divisional leadership role proudly for seven years. In 2019, Dr. deChabert transitioned to her role as Assistant Head of School full time. In 2021, she served as Interim Upper School Principal for one year, alongside her Assistant Head duties.

Dr. deChabert’s RCDS accomplishments are innumerable. She co-chaired the Portrait of a Graduate development committee, standardized and streamlined the RCDS hiring and review processes, led important conversations about balance and wellness at our school, co-chaired the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force in 2018 and co-authored the Comprehensive DEI Plan of 2020, expanded the Public Purpose program, served as a critical member of the RCDS@home Leadership Team in 2020, developed the Curriculum Change Process, chaired the School’s NYSAIS Decennial Accreditation Steering Committee, and launched the School’s annual survey and formal institutional research effort. Notably, Dr. deChabert has continued to teach Middle and Upper School English whenever she could manage the time to do so. In 2024-25, she is happily teaching sixth-grade Language Arts.

Beyond Rye Country Day School, Dr. deChabert has served on many accreditation visiting committees in New York and New Jersey and on the boards of non-profit organizations dedicated to educational access and opportunity; she founded the Fairchester Diversity Practitioners Network and organized the first New York State Association for Independent Schools workshop for diversity professionals; she has presented at a various National Association of Independent School Conferences, and she has attended countless professional programs. Her passion for teaching, learning, and creating connected school communities is a hallmark of her leadership and an inspiration to many.

During her 20 years at Rye Country Day, Dr. deChabert has left an indelible mark on the School’s history and community, and we eagerly look forward to her remarks.