Dr. Jan Pullen has been the head of school here at Saint Stephens for 34 years. She is a talented and respected leader, and recently, she announced that after the 2022-2023 school year is over, she will be retiring after many years of hard work and dedication to Saint Stephen’s.

Recently, The Gauntlet had the chance to catch up with her for a segment of Voices in the Nest.  In our meeting, I asked if, in her career, there was anyone who impacted her? 

“I actually have had two people who have influenced me. The first one is Beverly Townsley; she was the Upper school director while I was the lower school director. So it was basically Mr. Howard, our head of school, Mrs. Townsley and myself overseeing things. She was several years older than I was but she had a great educational experience. I looked up to her, she was really engaged with students and she always strived for high academic standards. She made me always want to make sure students were able to keep a balance in school.

The second person was John Howard who was my predecessor and he and I worked together for 15 years. What I loved about him was that he allowed me to grow in the position and that made me look up to him. He obviously was my boss but he still gave me the freedom to learn.”