Lisa Lyle joined Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School (MICDS) in July, 2007 as Head of School. MICDS is a co-educational, non-sectarian, college preparatory school in St. Louis serving students in grades junior kindergarten through 12.

Lyle came to MICDS from The Blake School, an independent, coeducational day school in Minneapolis, Minnesota. At Blake, she served as Assistant Head of School for five years. Previously, she was a faculty member, as well as a Housemaster and Day Student Advisor at The Lawrenceville School, a coeducational boarding school in New Jersey.

Born and raised in Texas, Lyle graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts degree in French. She also earned a Master of Arts degree in French Literature from the University of Pennsylvania. She later served as a Klingenstein Fellow and received a Master of Arts in Private School Leadership from Teachers College at Columbia University in New York.

Lisa has been described by colleagues as “an energetic, perceptive and extremely knowledgeable educator and leader who is passionate about education,” and as a visionary who believes “decisions are driven by what is best for the students.” She believes that schools provide us the chance to work at deliberately creating an ideal community. “We get to populate the community with those whose potential humbles us, and we gladly accept the responsibility to create the conditions that allow each to flourish. We get to prepare our students to become contributing citizens of the world, leading lives of purpose and service.”

Her energy, experience and commitment to education make her uniquely poised to lead MICDS well into the 21st century. Already she has successfully helped the School launch a one-to-one computing initiative in grades 7 through 12, and is leading the effort to develop the School’s next multi-year strategic plan.

Lisa is married to David Sanders and they are the parents of three children; daughter Myra, a student at the University of Colorado; son Willy, studying at Rollins College in Florida; and son Tucker, a student at MICDS. Her hobbies and interests include travel, hiking and skiing. She enjoys books, poetry, and loves to cook.