Head of School
Head of School
Travis Brownley brings to Marin Academy a demonstrated record of twenty-seven years of educational leadership, accomplishment and respect from current and former colleagues, students, parents, Heads of School and trustees.
As Head of the Upper School at The Wheeler School, a Nursery – 12th grade school in Providence, Rhode Island for the past seven years, Travis is responsible for the leadership and day-to-day operation of 335 high school students and 50 faculty members. In addition to being a member of the English department, she also teaches the 9th grade core course “Unity and Diversity.”
Prior to her tenure at Wheeler, Travis was the Dean of Students at University High School in San Francisco for five years, where she also taught English. In addition, she supervised the Summerbridge program, an acclaimed academic enrichment program for public and parochial middle school students. During her nine years at The Winsor School in Boston, Travis taught English, including both core courses and electives in poetry, expository writing and the 20th century novel. Her teaching career began with her six years at The Groton School in Massachusetts where she taught 8-12th graders and served as Dean of Day Students. Throughout her career, Travis has valued her opportunities to coach athletic teams.
As Travis shared in her Statement of Educational Philosophy, “The best schools, like the best teachers are both loving and rigorous. As a teacher, advisor, coach, Dean and Head of Upper School, my goal has been to sustain and to build lasting traditions of excellence in the many worlds of a school, in the classroom and curriculum, with students, faculty and parents. In all those constituencies, I have found joy in the complexity that makes a school work and a community grow.”
The wide respect Travis has earned within the educational community is reflected by accolades from her colleagues including:
“A consummate leader, she’s visionary, and radiates competence, is articulate and pragmatic but driven by idealism.”
"She thinks deeply with an extraordinary affinity to synthesize the present and think about the future. She can look forward with vision and yet remain practically grounded. She has a wonderful sense of humor and is undaunted by hard times or tough calls. She has respect for human foibles and a sense of humor about them. She is strong in her beliefs and has solid values."
A dedicated athlete, deep intellect, and an avid reader of poetry, Travis models both balance and excellence in all she does.
Travis received a B.A. with distinction from the University of Virginia and a M.A.L.S. from Dartmouth College. As the daughter of a submarine captain, she attended several different schools including a boarding school in Scotland at the age of 12. Travis’s partner Liz Katz, an educator and writer, received her A.B. from Vassar College and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop.
