International school leader · Middle & secondary years
Every student challenged, and set up to succeed. Never one without the other.
I'm Stephen Conroy. I lead middle and secondary schools, and the teachers who make them work: most recently in Hong Kong, and before that in Hà Nội. I began as a Language Arts teacher in a New York City public middle school.
Philosophy
What I believe about learning
The settings change. What students need, and what the adults around them need in order to provide it, stays remarkably consistent.
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Students at the center
Every decision a school makes should start with students: their learning, their well-being and their voice. Adolescents notice quickly when learning is disconnected from their lives. A student who asks why they are learning something should start a conversation, not put a teacher on the back foot.
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Rigor and inquiry, together
Inquiry is not learning without direction. It depends on teachers who know their subjects deeply, give clear guidance and hold high expectations. Those expectations are only fair when a school also builds the conditions to meet them.
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Belonging before bravery
Students take intellectual risks only where they feel they belong. A school teaches character less by what it says than by how it lives: its routines, the way adults speak to young people, what gets noticed. Well-being and inclusion are conditions for academic excellence, never competitors to it.
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A school that grows up with its students
The years from eleven to eighteen are the most dramatic stretch of a young person's development. A good school aligns what ought to align, protects what ought to differ, and gives younger students room to explore before they specialize. Coherence is not sameness.
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Evidence in the service of judgment
Good data can make a school more humane. Supporting the students who need us most is a team effort, built on evidence, systems and colleagues rather than gut feel. A number is the beginning of a professional conversation, never the end of one.
Leadership
How I lead
Leadership is a collective enterprise. These are the habits I try to keep, on good days and on hard ones.
Stay close to the classroom
I'm an educator first. The most useful hours of my week are spent in classrooms, in hallways and at lunch tables. Being visible is how a leader learns what is actually happening.
Grow teachers, don't just evaluate them
Conversations about teaching should be open and collaborative. My job is to give teachers the permission to tinker, the feedback to grow and a shared responsibility to improve together.
Clarity is a form of care
Unclear expectations exhaust great educators. I try to make plain who decides what, by what process, and why.
Ask up and ask down
Good decisions draw on the people above you and the people closest to the work. I ask both, decide, and then explain the decision.
Look after the ordinary day
A school shows who it is on an ordinary Tuesday in November. Schedules, transitions and follow-up are the quiet work that earns students' trust.
Build a culture of trust
I want a school people love waking up to be part of: joyful, demanding, and honest about what isn't working yet.
Visible, honest and human.
The standard I hold myself to as a leader.
Experience
Where I've done the work
From a New York City classroom to leading divisions in two very different international schools.
- 2026–27A sabbatical yearHong Kong
- 2021–26Middle School Associate PrincipalHong Kong International School
- 2019–21Middle School PrincipalConcordia International School Hanoi
- 2016–19Secondary School Assistant PrincipalConcordia International School Hanoi
- 2014–16Humanities TeacherConcordia International School Hanoi
- 2010–14Language Arts TeacherLouis Pasteur Middle School 67, New York City
Education
- M.S. in Education · Queens College, City University of New York
- B.A. · Binghamton University
Credentials
- School Administration License · Washington, D.C.
- Certificate in International School Leadership · Principals' Training Center
Now
2026–27 is a sabbatical year. After five years at Hong Kong International School, I'm taking time away from the school calendar, and looking ahead to the 2027–28 school year.
Contact