Our Wildwood, Volume 54

I remember his willingness from the start of his tenure to support students and families of color and help Wildwood live up to its promises of an inviting and safe place for them to thrive. In the early days, he accompanied students of color to the homes of hosting Wildwood parents as they answered questions from interested and potential Wildwood parent candidates.”

Landis prioritized building a strong leadership team and hiring experienced, dedicated faculty. His support for teachers never wavered and he pushed the board to raise salaries so that we could attract and keep the most talented. He helped to build out unique ideas across the school, ideas that we now think of as indispensable to Wildwood’s programs like Advisory and the Outreach Center. He oversaw all the growth, and to his absolute credit, he led the charge.”

BECCA HEDGEPATH (P. ‘13) FACULTY (2002-PRESENT)

LYLE PONCHER (P. ‘97, ‘11) BOARD CHAIR (1994-2001) BOARD OF TRUSTEES (1991-2023)

Something that I’m very proud of, which I credit to Landis, is how unequivocal he has been about the school centering DEIB values and practices in its mission and identity. Even as the dialogue about DEIB has changed, Wildwood has never wavered in unapologetically embracing DEIB work—doing so before it was in style and remaining committed even as the tides have shifted at a national level. I deeply value this commitment and know we are a stronger institution because of it.”

What’s it all for? The students, of course. Landis always made decisions in service to the student experience, how to improve it, how to innovate it, how to make it joyful. The school that Landis built has students at the center of it, shaped every day by his faith in Wildwood as a place of growth, discovery, and inspiration.

Landis believes to his core that your high school doesn’t need to make you miserable, an ode to so many hundreds of kids he’s seen truly enjoy their scholastic experience. Wildwood is a living testament to that belief.”

COREY FETZER ‘04 FACULTY (2022-PRESENT)

ANDREW SOLMSSEN (P. ‘24, ‘24) BOARD CHAIR (2020-2023) BOARD OF TRUSTEES (2014-PRESENT)

What first comes to mind is how ahead of its time Wildwood has been on DEIB. Almost 20 years ago Wildwood was developing practices and honing in on issues and solutions that are only recently coming into place in other schools: incident response protocols, affinity groups, awareness of the hidden costs of independent school education, comprehensive and ongoing school-wide professional development, equitable hiring processes, and so on. Now that there is backlash and controversy connected to DEI work, Wildwood’s practices didn’t just pop up in the last five years. They are bedrock and run deeper than a position statement that the school put out in 2020. Because of Landis’ leadership and the leaders and teams he has recruited and mentored over the years—his legacy will be marked by creating more inclusive environments that demonstrate the power of utilizing differences within a community.”

From the beginning Landis has had great clarity about the purpose, vision and value of Wildwood— what it is, what it isn’t, and how its mission can best serve kids. For Landis, it’s always been about what’s best for kids.”

ASHLEY KRAMER (P. ‘19, ‘22) BOARD OF TRUSTEES (2014-2023)

MELINDA TSAPATSARIS (P. ‘28, ‘31, ‘33) FACULTY AND ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL (2001-2017)

OWW SPRING 2026

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