Bullis Community Update: March 13, 2026

Dear Bullis Families,

Well, I thought spring had arrived. As the clocks sprang forward, warmer temperatures made exam week in the Upper School a little more joyful/fun/bearable. Spring also brought flocks of geese to campus. We were colonized! As beautiful as they were as they glided past my windows, I would have preferred if they found another temporary home. Fortunately, they left just as the latest bizarre snow cancelled all the games on Thursday. Goodness. 80 degrees one day and AC, snow the next. Oh, what to wear!

College Early Decision News

As a reminder, there are different processes for college admissions:

• Early Decision (ED): A student may only apply ED to one school. If and when admitted, a student must attend and is expected to withdraw their applications from all other schools to which they’ve applied. These applications are typically due on November 1, and students are notified of their decisions in December. Not every college offers ED.
• Early Decision II (ED2): A student may only apply ED2 to one school. If and when admitted, a student must attend and is expected to withdraw their applications from all other schools to which they’ve applied. These applications are typically due in the first week of January, and students are notified of their decisions in February. Not every college offers ED; students can sometimes convert their previously-submitted EA or RD application to ED2 if that school becomes their first choice. This is also an application type utilized by students who decide later that a school is their first choice.
• Restrictive Early Action (REA): A student may only apply to one school under a Restrictive or Single Choice Early Action plan. This agreement typically precludes students from applying anywhere under a binding Early Decision plan and/or other private schools’ Early Action plans. These applications are typically due in November, and students are notified of their non-binding decisions in December. There are only a few colleges that offer this plan: Georgetown University, Harvard University, Princeton University, Stanford University, University of Notre Dame, and Yale University.
• Regular Decision (RD): A student may apply RD to multiple schools. If and when admitted, students do not have to accept their offers and may continue to wait to hear other decisions from colleges and universities. These applications are typically due in January, and students are notified of their decisions before April 1.

Below are the destinations of our students who have been accepted by colleges through the ED1 or ED2 processes. While we have had many students accepted to college through the Early Restrictive Action or Early Action processes, I am not listing those colleges as they are not binding offers. As described above, students with these offers can wait until they see the options they have through the regular decision system before committing.

I will send further news about the college destinations of our Class of 2026 in May, once they have all made final decisions.

College/University Name. Number of Matriculants

Tulane University of Louisiana 5
Boston College 4
New York University 3
University of Pennsylvania 3
Boston University 2
Duke University 2
University of Virginia (Main Campus) 2
Vanderbilt University 2
Wake Forest University 2
Washington University in St. Louis 2
American University 1
Brown University 1
Colgate University 1
Dartmouth 1 
Dickinson College 1
Fordham University 1
Franklin and Marshall 1 
George Washington University 1
Howard University 1
Lafayette College 1
Macalester College 1
Morehouse College 1
Northeastern University 1
Northwestern University 1
Ohio Wesleyan University 1
Southern Methodist University 1
Tufts University 1
University of Miami 1
University of Southern California 1

Total EDI and II Admits 44

Strategic Plan:

As previously reported, we have begun the process of developing our next strategic plan. The last strategic plan ran from 2021 to 2026 and provided a roadmap for the school's development during that period. While the next plan will undoubtedly look different, it will build upon the vision the Board of Trustees set for the school with the last plan.

After analysing the data from surveys, the strategic planning conference in January, and a SWOT analysis, the Steering Committee has assembled seven subcommittees to move the work forward. A trustee and a faculty member co-chair each committee.

• Academic Experience (Seema Kakar and Tanya Salewski)
• Artistic Experience (Muriel Suggs and Harriet Polun)
• Athletic Experience (Jon Halle and Erica Woda)
• Faculty (Brad Klein and Faith Darling)
• Alumni (Rob Stien and Celeste McDaniels)
• Human Connection, Culture and Character (Laura Cox Kaplan and Philip Weisgold)
• Institutional Resources (TBD)

The committees are about to embark on their work and will report back to the Steering Committee by mid-May. The Board of Trustees will be briefed at the May board meeting and throughout the summer as the plan is prepared. The Institutional Resources Committee will carry out its work towards the end of the process so that it is able to consider any recommendations from the committees that have financial consequences. This committee will also be looking at strategic, long-term approaches to compensation, tuition, endowment and reserves, capital projects, long-term budgeting, and philanthropy. We hope that the Board of Trustees will affirm the new Strategic Plan at its meeting on September 15, 2026.

Enrollment:

Today marks the deadline for prospective students who have been offered a place at Bullis to accept. Since we are already fully enrolled and because our attrition of current students is so low (3.2% - the NAIS average is >10%), we will be admitting fewer new students to Bullis this year than in the last six years. I am excited that the admissions team has the ability to build terrific classes. I do want to remind everyone that the deadline for withdrawing from an enrollment contract is May 1. After this date, the full tuition for the 2026-2027 school year is payable. Obviously, we very much hope that no one will withdraw, but if you need to, please do so before May 1. Thank you.

Director of Athletics:

I am thrilled to let you know that we have hired Mary Jo Pruitt to be our next Director of Athletics. Mary Jo has spent ten years as an AD at two schools in California–Castilleja School and Mission College Prep. Prior to this, she was an Assistant Coach and Director of Operations for Track and Field at Stanford University for eight years. Her degrees are from UC Davis (where she was an All-American Track and Field Athlete) and the University of San Francisco. The search committee’s strong belief in Mary Jo’s ability to succeed in this position was echoed by her references, one of whom stated that Mary Jo was, “the best AD I have seen in my career!”

Mary Jo will live on campus with her husband Jesse (a college basketball coach), and their three children, Giselle (Gigi), Paige, and Tre. I know you will join me in giving a warm Bullis welcome to the Pruitt family.

Varsity Girls Basketball:

Congratulations to our Varsity girls basketball team, who won the private schools state championship on Friday night, beating Bishop McNamara, the top-ranked team in the country. It was a fabulous evening, and a terrific conclusion to the season…at least locally. The girls will be playing at the beginning of April in the Chipotle Nationals tournament. Good luck!

Gum:

Yes, that chewy, sticky stuff that is sadly deposited by some in places other than the trash can. This has become a real issue around campus. It is on sidewalks and rather disgustingly, stuck under tables, even in the lunch room. Our facilities and dining crew have to clean it, and that is just not fair. As a result, henceforth, gum is not allowed on campus… for adults (including me) too (that’s only fair!).

Best wishes to the Middle School students and faculty who are about to embark on their Discovery trips. The 6th grade will be in the Outer Banks, the 7th Grade will be in Florida, and the 8th Grade will be in Costa Rica. I, too, will be traveling next week, so Associate Head of School, Tanya Salewski, will both take the leadership reins during my absence, as well as the pleasure of greeting everyone first thing in the morning.

And finally, many, many thanks to all the volunteers who have helped with tonight’s Gala, and especially, of course, to the Co-Chairs, Jackie Blanken and Caitlin Helman. It promises to be a very special event! And given Jackie and Caitlin’s recent promotional video, I cannot wait to see the outfits!

Warmly,

Christian G. Sullivan
Head of School