Announcing the New Director of Plymouth Church School
Plymouth Church School (PCS) is thrilled to welcome Rachael Macchiesi as our next Director, beginning July 1, 2026. The Director Search Committee unanimously selected Rachael after a comprehensive, six-month search that included over 35 candidates.
Below please find the Search Committee Chair’s note to the PCS community about why Rachael was selected as the next Director of PCS, along with a note from Rachael about why she is excited to join our school.
Dear Plymouth Church School (PCS) Families:
On behalf of the PCS Director Search Committee, I am thrilled to announce that Rachael Macchiesi has accepted our offer to become the next Director of PCS.
Her selection is the result of extensive discussions among the Committee, which also includes Cullen Daly, Gabe Rotman, Pippa Hale, Andrea Turner Moffitt and Gary Bartholomaus, along with consideration of parent and teacher feedback on each finalist candidate. Thank you again to everyone who attended the interview sessions and shared your thoughts—we deeply appreciate your input.
Why We Selected Rachael
Throughout the selection process, the Search Committee focused on finding a leader who will further build PCS for the future while appreciating and preserving the very best of the school—the joyous leaning environment, the value of a curriculum that integrates student-led, project-based learning with early childhood-focused math and reading programs, and the strong community that exists across families and faculty. The Committee unanimously agreed Rachael is that person.
Rachael brings a wealth of leadership experience. She has worked across admissions, exmissions, communications/advancement and administration at The Washington Market School, another premier New York City early childhood program, and Convent of the Sacred Heart School, the oldest independent pre-K-12 all-girls school in New York City, where she most recently led Admissions & Financial Aid. Those who have worked with Rachael repeatedly emphasized that she is someone who can both develop and implement a strategic vision and work with others to accomplish it as a team.
You can hear more about why Rachael is excited to accept this role in a note from her below.
Rachael’s Commitment to PCS Teachers and Curriculum
Throughout her previous roles, Rachael has worked extensively with teachers and spent nearly a decade in the classroom early in her career. In fact, she has built such strong relationships with teachers at Sacred Heart that the Head of School asked her this year to co-chair a task force to review their early childhood program, along with their Head of Lower School.
One of several things that most impressed Rachael when she was on campus was our incredible teaching team, along with the classroom environments they have created for PCS students. This is not just a reflection of their work, but also all that Adrienne, Elizabeth and Andrea have done to develop and enhance our programs. Rachael speaks to this more in her note as well.
Transition and Next Steps
We have already begun working on an onboarding plan for Rachael, and she will work closely with Adrienne and PCS leadership to ensure a smooth transition before she officially begins in her role on July 1st.
We want to thank Adrienne for her incredible decade of leadership. She has built PCS into one of the premier early childhood programs across New York City, and we will find time as a community before the end of the year to properly celebrate all she has done.
Please don’t hesitate to email me at PCSDirectorSearch@plymouthchurch.org with any questions, and please join us in welcoming Rachael to PCS.
With excitement for the future,
Daniel O’Donnell
Chair, PCS Director Search Committee and Plymouth Church School Committee
Introductory Note from Rachael:
I am overjoyed and deeply honored to step into the role of Director at Plymouth Church School. Throughout a twenty-year journey in education, I have built a diverse professional foundation, from my formative years as a teacher to my senior leadership experience in both a large-scale New York City preschool and a prestigious ongoing school. I am thrilled to be coming 'full circle' back to where my heart has always stayed: the early childhood setting. Having most recently served in a large, ongoing school, I have gained an invaluable perspective on the 'other side' of a student's transition. This experience has only deepened my conviction that the most vital gift we can provide a child is a foundation built on wonder, curiosity, and a true sense of belonging. I look forward to bringing this balanced lens of classroom heart and strategic leadership to the Plymouth community.
Plymouth’s clear mission and unique pedagogy were an immediate draw for me, but it was the community’s spirit that captured my heart. Long before I set foot on campus, I heard everyone speak of a 'special magic' that defines this school. The moment I arrived, I felt it instantly, it was in the air, in the beauty of the historic location, and most clearly in the faces of the children and families arriving for their day.
What truly moved me to a 'full yes' was seeing the classrooms in action. They are not merely rooms; they are working laboratories and intentional little worlds, created with such thought and creativity by incredibly skilled teachers. I was genuinely blown away by the details—the class bears being nurtured by little hands, the projects that displayed such out-of-the-box thinking and the unique approach to curriculum. Meeting the faculty only reinforced my excitement; their commitment to the art of teaching and their deep love for this school are palpable. It is a privilege to partner with them, to support their professional growth, and to learn from their wisdom.
I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the Search Committee for their confidence in me and for the gift of leading this remarkable community. I also want to give immense credit to the current administration team; the 'magic' I felt upon my arrival is a direct result of their dedication, vision and care. They have cultivated a sanctuary for childhood, and I am so grateful for the strong foundation they have laid. I look forward to being a steward of this special place, keeping the magic alive, and mindfully leading Plymouth into a bright future.
I plan to be on campus several times before my official start date and truly hope you will stop by to say hello. I am eager to hear your perspectives and learn about your unique role within the Plymouth community; these early conversations are exactly how I hope to begin my journey of learning before day one.
Sincerely,
Rachael Macchiesi
Director Search
The Plymouth Church School community is deeply grateful to our Director, Adrienne Urbanski, for her outstanding ten years of leadership. We wish her all the best when she steps down after the end of this school year, and we appreciate the incredible teaching and support team she has built.
To facilitate the transition to a new Director, we have formed a committee who is actively searching for the best person to lead the school to its next phase.
Below please find updates on our transition process.
Dear Plymouth Church School Families,
As Chair of the Plymouth Church School (PCS) Committee, a group of parents and Plymouth Church members who work with PCS leadership on long-term planning and oversight of the school, I wanted to follow up on Adrienne’s note.
Adrienne’s Leadership
I know PCS both as a parent—my son Rory graduated from Big Green Room in 2023, and my son Finn graduated from Red Room in 2025—and as a Plymouth Church member. On behalf of both the school and the church, I want to express our deep gratitude to Adrienne. Words do not adequately convey here the impact of her leadership over the last decade.
She has built a learning environment where arts, academics and play are seamlessly interwoven, and the math and reading curricula that PCS has implemented in the fours and fives programs have become key differentiators of our school. She has also built the teaching and support team we all know and love, serving as a leader and mentor who has encouraged them to expand their roles within and outside of the classroom. Additionally, she has significantly expanded PCS’s reach in terms of admissions and exmissions. And, as a reflection of the reputation she has built for PCS, the school was recently invited to join ISAAGNY, the Independent Schools Admissions Association of Greater New York.
As I have come to know more PCS families over time, I find we all seem to most appreciate the same thing about the school — the warm and inclusive community. For my family and many others, this has been instrumental in building lasting friendships among children and parents, and in navigating the highs and lows of early childhood years. Once again, this is a reflection of Adrienne and the team she has built. Finding someone who can sustain this culture will be a key component of our search process.
Please know that Plymouth Church and the PCS Committee remain fully committed to supporting the mission and work of PCS, and to growing the program Adrienne has built to provide preschool-age children with an outstanding secular education.
Transition Overview
Thanks to Adrienne’s many contributions, PCS has never been in a stronger position. This is an opportunity to find the Director who can guide the school through its next phase. As Adrienne mentioned, we have appointed a search committee who will work to have a new Director in place by next July. The committee includes me as chair, along with:
• Cullen Daly, PCS Parent Association Co-Chair and current PCS parent of four years
• Pippa Hale, a PCS School Committee Member, Co-Chair of the PCS Capital Campaign Committee, and PCS parent for six years
• Andrea Turner Moffitt, a PCS parent for over ten years and a member of the PCS Capital Campaign Committee
• Gary Bartholomaus, a Plymouth Church member and the PCS School Committee representative on the Plymouth Church Council, the church’s governing board.
The Search Committee is very grateful that Adrienne has offered her full support on the transition process. We will also be reaching out to teachers and families for your input.
To further support the transition, we have retained Carney Sandoe & Associates (CSA), a leading education-focused search firm. They have nearly fifty years of experience in education searches, including for early childhood schools, both in New York City and across the United States.
Allison Gaines Pell and Burke Zalosh will lead the PCS search for CSA. Allison, who was raised in Brooklyn Heights, spent two decades in heads of school roles, and Burke has nearly three decades of search experience with CSA. They have already begun working with the Search Committee and Adrienne to finalize a job description and field a search for potential candidates, both internally and externally. Once we select a new director, they will also help develop a transition plan.
As we begin the search process, several principles will guide our work. We are looking for a new Director who remains committed to providing the very best early childhood educational experience for children and families, who will continue to invest in and develop teachers and staff, and who will further the culture of community and inclusivity that so many appreciate about PCS.
Opportunities to Share Your Perspective
Allison and Burke will be at PCS on Thursday, December 4 to hear your input on the search process. We encourage you to meet with them after morning drop off from 9:00 to 10:00am in the Reception Room. We will also share an online survey with the entire PCS community in conjunction with their visit.
We will continue to share updates as we can throughout the transition, both via email and on the PCS website.
Conclusion
Please join me in thanking Adrienne for her outstanding leadership, and know that we will find the right times to celebrate all that she has done. Looking at the many strengths of PCS, I hope you are as excited as I am about what its future holds.
If you have questions about the search process, the Search Committee will host coffee and tea in the Reception Room from 8:30am – 9:15am on Monday, November 24. We encourage you to drop by then, or you can reach us over email at PCSDirectorSearch@PlymouthChurch.org.
All the best,
Daniel O’Donnell