Lisa Lyle joined Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School (MICDS) in July, 2007 as Head of School.

Ms. 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, Ms. 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.

Ms. Lyle 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. Since her arrival, she has successfully helped the School launch a one-to-one computing initiative in grades 7 through 12, and instituted a new process for faculty performance review aligned with professional development objectives. She oversaw the development of the School's next multi-year strategic plan, and her emphasis on global education has helped MICDS develop cultural-immersion exchange programs with sister schools in other countries.

Ms. Lyle serves on the boards of the United Way of Greater St. Louis and the Independent Schools of St. Louis; she is on the Evaluation Review Committee of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States; and she is Chair of the Education Division, Private Schools, for the Arts and Education Council's 2010 Campaign. In addition, she is a member of the St. Louis Forum.

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