About

Leadership

Meet Head of School Lise Charlier

Head of School Lise Charlier joined the CSW community in 2019. Born and raised in Haiti, she was educated in the Haitian, French, and American educational systems. Her father, Gérard Frédérique, was a Haitian ophthalmologist and her mother, Esther Eshelman, was a Mennonite nurse from a Pennsylvania farming family. 

Prior to CSW, Lise served as director of studies and strategic initiatives at Severn School in Severna Park, Maryland. Before this role at Severn, Lise was upper school assistant principal at Friends School of Baltimore in Baltimore, Maryland. She serves as President of the Board for the Association of Independent Schools in New England (AISNE), a membership organization of over 270 independent schools. Lise has also served on the board of trustees for Green Street Academy, the Association of Independent Maryland and DC Schools (AIMS), the Cowles Charitable Trust, and most recently the Center for Spiritual and Ethical Education (CSEE). 

She holds an MS in education from Johns Hopkins University and a BS from Georgetown University. 

The Power of Voice


CSW is proud to be one of two independent schools in the nation to have students serve on its Board of Trustees with full voting privileges. One boarding and one day student are elected by the student body to serve one-year terms as full voting members, representing student views to the board. In addition, two teaching faculty members are elected on a biannual basis to serve two-year terms.

2025-26 Board of Trustees

CSW—a gender-inclusive day and boarding school for grades 9-12—is a national leader in progressive education. We live out our values of inquiry-based learning, student agency, and embracing diverse perspectives in every aspect of our student experience. Young people come to CSW to learn how to learn and then put what they learn into action—essential skills they carry into their futures as doers, makers, innovators, leaders, and exceptional humans who do meaningful work in the world.