At the end of the 24-25 school year, the search for President Keith Evans’ successor ended with the selection of Jay Rainey. When Rainey was announced, the change of President seemed far in the future. Recently, however, the passing of the torch seems to be approaching quickly without many of the students knowing “Who is Mr. Rainey?”
Rainey is currently serving as the head of the MICDS school in St. Louis Missouri. He’s worked there for seven years and has loved his time there, but he is also thrilled to come to Westminster. Rainey has had a 24 year career in education. He started as a math teacher, English teacher, and coach, and worked his way up to head of school.
Rainey is very excited about the prospect of moving to Atlanta, and while he doesn’t cheer for the Braves, he’s planning on going to some games. He’s also glad to move here because of it’s proximity to his hometown and family in Virginia. “There’s a little bit of a feeling of returning to home,” says Rainey, “as well as joining such an amazing school.”
“From the moment I stepped on Westminster’s campus, I felt the same energy and purpose that has defined my most rewarding years in education,” Rainey said in a statement reported by Rough Draft Atlanta, “I am honored and excited to serve as the school’s next President. Westminster has a longstanding tradition of excellence, developing leaders who are connected with their community and the world. I look forward to building on the school’s strong foundation and working collaboratively to shape Westminster’s path forward.”
While Westminster has been taking major steps forward in terms of campus renovation under President Evans, many people might be expecting Rainey to do the same. Rainey knows that Evans’ legacy is his impact on the physical campus; however, Rainey wants to focus more on connecting with the community. According to Rainey, every day that he’s on campus, he will step foot in the Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools at least once a day.
While Rainey’s main focus at first is to integrate with the community, he’s also not afraid to make difficult decisions. He wants to ensure that he sees as many points of view as possible on a certain topic before making a decision. “It’s almost never the case that everyone agrees that one decision is the right one.” says Rainey. “So I think it’s so important to get as much buy-in for a decision as you can leading up to it, and to always have a really good answer to the people that disagree with the decision.”
Rainey wants to be very present in what’s going on around school, so he makes sure he knows every student’s name. If for example, he asks a teacher if he can step into their class one day to listen to a student’s presentation or performance. “I make sure I know the names and faces of all the students in that room before I get there,” says Rainey.
According to all of his colleagues and friends, he’s a wonderful person, and is going to be a great fit for Westminster. “I think everyone at Westminster is going to enjoy him,” says Evans, “but the students in particular will love him.”