Admin, 2000-2015
Josephine (or simply Jo) was Executive Assistant to the Head of School and Executive Secretary to the Board of Managers for many years, and retired in February 2016.
She worked with eight Heads of School: Chuck Dull, Bill Wehrenberg, Jim Handrich, Richard Mueller, D.J. Condon, Kevin Dunning, Linda Anderson, and Alan Runge.
Mark Sheldon, who worked closely with Jo when he was the Director of HKIS’s Office of Institutional Advancement (as it was then called) from 2006 to 2009, described her as “the most talented and dedicated staff in the Head of School’s office for many years, keeping things running smoothly, handling the most confidential and sensitive of matters, especially relating to local culture and the government on sensitive issues, and liaising with Board members and the community, always in a professional way.”
He added, “She was incredibly competent, tri-lingual, and super-diplomatic. She was also very modest, but everyone senior in the school knew who was really running the school – through thick and thin, through many different Heads of School and senior administrators, through many crises, Jo Wai was always there. Let’s give Jo her due.”
Beth McNicholas, the current President of the Parent Faculty Organization (PFO), said, “Everyone loved Jo! She was so incredibly helpful to me over the years with the PFO and I was so sad when she retired!