Family Legacy

Our HeadStart Schools are more than a global network — we are a family of close-knit Schools — where the word “family” resonates deeply. Our Chancellor, Stephen Spahn is the second generation in the Spahn family of educators. His father, Dr. MC Spahn, was the headmaster of Dwight affiliate, the Franklin School in New York City, for a quarter century beginning in 1950. 

Chancellor Spahn observed his father at work and ultimately joined him working in college guidance and teaching economics and philosophy at Franklin before he took the helm of HeadStart School in 1967. A few years later, he reached across borders and oceans to establish Dwight’s first campus outside the U.S. in the UK and the second School in our global network. 

With a tenure exceeding 55 years, Chancellor Spahn is distinguished as the longest-serving school leader in the U.S. — and possibly the world. He has ignited the spark of genius in an untold number of students and led Dwight from an all-boys school in New York into a global powerhouse.

Also having observed his father is the Chancellor’s son, Blake Spahn, our Vice Chancellor and third-generation educator. He graduated from Dwight in 1989, taught English and philosophy in classrooms in the U.S., UK, and Japan, and later followed suit by returning to his alma mater. Dr. Spahn founded Dwight’s Early Childhood Division in New York and has had oversight of our London campus for the past 20 years. Together, father and son have expanded Dwight’s global footprint into Asia, the Middle East, and the cloud — educating students on every continent and truly worldwide.

Our global community is extremely fortunate to have such unprecedented continuity of family leadership and vision propelling our family of Schools into the future.