Dr. Robert Perry

Dr. Meredith J. deChabert

Dr. Noni Thomas López

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EAST PROVIDENCE — Thursday, May 30, brought significance news pertaining to local academia with East Providence native and long-time area educator Dr. Robert Perry being named to the New England Association of School and Colleges Board of Trustees while The Gordon School located in city announced a change in leadership as Dr. Meredith J. deChabert will eventually take over as Head of School from Dr. Noni Thomas López.

Perry, who left the field last calendar year to become the Director of Human Resources for the City of East Providence, has over 30 years experience working in schools, from being an instructor to an administrator.

"With a wealth of experience deeply embedded at the community level," said NEASC President and CEO Cameron C. Staples. "Dr. Perry will contribute invaluable insight regarding the educational needs and expectations of families which will enable NEASC to shape future policies that embrace technology and innovation in education without overriding human-centered priorities."

deChabert will become Head of School at Gordon in time for the start of the 2025-26 term, when Thomas López departs the post she has held since 2018.

deChabert comes to East Providence from the Rye Country Day School in Rye, N.Y., where she served in several administrative roles for the last 19 years. Those included the school’s first director of diversity,  middle school principal, upper school principal and currently the assistant head of school for academics and institutional research. She has also continued to teach one section of English Language Arts annually.

“Gordon is extraordinarily fortunate to have found Meredith,” said Damian Ewens, Gordon Class of 1990 and chair of the school's Board of Trustees. “Her deep expertise, her enthusiasm, her joyous spirit, and the overwhelmingly positive feedback she received from the community all led to her being the search committee's clear recommendation.”

More Perry notes
The New England Association of Schools and Colleges, more familiar to most by its acronym NEASC, is a voluntary partnership of public, independent and international schools, which works to "assess, support, and promote high quality education for all students through accreditation, professional assistance, and pursuit of best practices."

Perry joins the 13 board members currently serving NEASC to oversee the affairs of the association. The various NEASC Commissions are empowered to manage their own accreditation processes and procedures and apply their standards, once approved by the Association Board of Trustees.

"Having just begun my new role at NEASC, I am inspired by the talent and passion that is evident within the board, commission, and staff," said Perry. "I know first-hand the positive impact NEASC has had on schools, and I am very much looking forward to promoting NEASC’s mission.”

Perry was a public school Latin teacher for over 20 years in Massachusetts and Rhode Island and was also a building level principal at Martin and Riverside Middle Schools for eight years, leaving the latter in January 2023 to become the city's HR director. He received a Doctor of Education degree (Ed.D) in 2020 from Northeastern University.

More Gordon notes
Thomas López announced earlier this year her intention to leave Gordon after one more term to become Head of School at Poly Prep Country Day in Brooklyn, N.Y. Thomas López came to Gordon six years ago after working in education circles around New York City.

“Since my arrival in 2018, the Gordon community has wrapped its arms around me and my family and made it possible for a state we had never set foot in before and a school we only knew by its national reputation to become our home,” said Thomas López. “This decision is made easier by the knowledge that I will be leaving Gordon in a position of strength after six years of unimaginable growth and change, in our nation and on our campus.”

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 the National Association of Independent School’s People of Color Conference and others; and she has attended myriad professional programs that feed her passion for learning, which she readily shares with others.

“If I could design a school from scratch, it would look a lot like Gordon,” said deChabert. “Joy, curiosity, idealism, intellectual excellence, empathy, relationships, positive social impact, and wellness: all of these are naturally a part of the Gordon experience. These ideals are in my core, both as a person and as an educator.”

deChabert holds a Ph.D. in Education, Culture, and Society from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A. in Anthropology from Columbia University.