Lenzini Named Associate Headmaster
St. Johnsbury Academy has hired John Lenzini of St. Johnsbury to be Associate Headmaster. Currently serving as the school’s Athletic Director, Lenzini will assume his new duties on July 1, 2022. A search for his replacement as Athletic Director is underway.
As the Associate Head, Lenzini will work with the Assistant Headmasters and be an essential member of the Lead and Administrative Teams. He will help shepherd and enable important endeavors such as building projects and initiatives around health and wellness, equity and inclusion, sustainability, and professional development. In the absence of the Headmaster, the Associate Head will step in and take on the leadership duties of the school.
John has been working in education for over two decades, beginning in 1998 when he took a job with The American International School-Salzburg, in Austria, where he was the science department head. From 2004 to 2006 he was a part-owner of the school and involved in the school’s governance.
Before returning in 2020, Lenzini worked at the Academy from 2006 to 2014. He served as a Class Dean, an AP Chemistry teacher, and the varsity softball coach from 2007 to 2013. After leaving SJA, Lenzini realized he missed being involved in young people’s lives and being an active member of the educational community. Missing education and students brought him back to the Academy. His two years as the Athletic Director have reinforced those feelings. “The process of engaging with students and facilitating their positive learning experiences has always been deeply satisfying to me. Having been immersed in the Academy and broader community since moving to St. Johnsbury in 2006, I am motivated to be an even more integral part of an institution that shapes the lives and experiences of my immediate neighbors and our global citizens,” said Lenzini.
In 2013 John and his partners founded Schilling Beer Company in Littleton, New Hampshire. Lenzini stepped away from the day-to-day operations when he returned to St. Johnsbury Academy. He remains a co-owner and director of Schilling.
Working outside of the school and then returning to oversee an athletics program with more than 40 interscholastic teams in which nearly half of the school’s students participate throughout the year helped him prepare for the next level of leadership. Lenzini says he “hopes to use these experiences to bolster the Academy’s learning environment, supporting and empowering our dedicated and talented faculty and staff in delivering world-class learning opportunities to our students.”
Lenzini received a B.A. in Germanic Studies from Indiana University and an M.A. in Education (Chemistry and German) from the University of Michigan.
Headmaster Dr. Sharon Howell says, “John is one of the best-loved and most deeply respected people in our community, and a consummate educator no matter what his role. We had strong candidates from around the country for this position, and it was gratifying to see John emerge as the obvious choice through our process. I so look forward to partnering with him and our dynamic team to move the Academy forward.”
