Milford's Lauralton Hall Appoints New President And Head of School

MILFORD, CT — Elizabeth Miller, former head of a St. Louis, MO, preK-12 Catholic school, has been appointed the next President and Head of Milford's Lauralton Hall, announced the school's Board of Directors Friday.

Miller, who was selected following an extensive nationwide search, succeeds Dr. Antoinette Iadarola, who will retire at the end of the current academic year at the college-prep, all-girls’ school.

According to the school, Miller recently returned to the United States after working for a year in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) opening a new school, the GEMS Nations Academy, and prior to that, she served as Head of School at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School, an independent Catholic school in St. Louis.

"The Search Committee reviewed a strong field of candidates for this position and we are delighted to have selected an outstanding individual to lead Lauralton Hall into its next phase of educating young women in the Mercy Tradition," said Trudy A. Dickneider ’64 PhD, Lauralton Hall's board Chair, in a statement.

Added Miller, "Lauralton Hall is a welcome home for me. It is a place of familiar values and traditions, a rigorous school consonant with my educational philosophy, a community rich in generations of scholarly young women. I am appreciative for this opportunity of service and stewardship during this chapter in Lauralton’s history."

"Elizabeth is uniquely qualified to further Lauralton’s goal of empowering young women for life and I am confident that she will continue to grow its reputation as the premiere Catholic college prep school for girls in the nation," said Dr. Iadarola.

From a Lauralton Hall release:

The Board was impressed with Miller’s stellar accomplishments as a leader in independent education. Her career began at Pace Academy in Atlanta, GA where she taught history, public speaking, and journalism. She entered administration while at Pace and was recognized with four national independent school education awards. She later moved on to Upper School Head at Hutchison School, an all girls’ independent school in Memphis, Tennessee, where she was chosen as the state’s Administrator of the Year by the Tennessee Scholastic Press Association.

Miller also expressed her gratitude to the Board of Trustees for their show of confidence and to President Iadarola for her legacy. “I am looking forward to working with the community of its students and their families, its alumnae and friends of the school, its faculty and administrative team, and the Board of Trustees.”

Miller graduated Summa Cum Laude from Ohio Wesleyan University, with a B.A. degree in Journalism with minors in French and Economics Management. She holds a Master’s Degree in Asian Studies from Harvard University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Miller is active in the National Association of Independent Schools and has completed their Aspiring Heads Fellowship, funded by the Edward E. Ford Foundation, where she focused on the research of female philanthropic patterns in 2011-2012, as well as their Institute for New Heads in 2013. For the past three years she has collaborated on a panel at the organization’s annual conference.

Founded in 1905 by the Sisters of Mercy, Lauralton Hall is the first independent Catholic college-prep school for young women in Connecticut. More than 460 students from over 40 Connecticut towns attend. Inspired by the Mercy Tradition, their mission is to empower young women to pursue their highest potential through lifelong learning, compassionate service, and responsible leadership in a global society. For more information, visit www.lauraltonhall.org. Lauralton Hall is located at 200 High Street, Milford.

Photo: Experienced independent school administrator Elizabeth Miller has been appointed as the new President and Head of Lauralton Hall in Milford, succeeding Dr. Toni Iadarola who will retire in June 2017. Photo credit: Contributed