Announcing Dr. Kaili Hwang as CAIS Head of School Beginning July 1, 2027

Dear CAIS Community,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, it is my honor and joy to announce the appointment of Dr. Kaili Hwang as the next Head of School of the Chinese American International School, effective July 1, 2027.

This appointment is the culmination of a thorough, values-driven search, shaped by the entire CAIS community. Your engagement reflects what makes CAIS so amazing: a community that cares deeply, thinks seriously, and shows up for one another. The Search Committee is deeply grateful to everyone who participated in this process.

What distinguishes Kaili is the breadth and relevance of her experience: she has led classrooms, divisions, and school-wide programs across four countries, always centering the student experience and building cultures of trust, rigor, and belonging. She is a native Mandarin speaker who has lived and worked across many communities in Asia and the United States, and she brings to CAIS a genuine, personal understanding of the bilingual and bicultural experience at the heart of our mission.

Throughout the search process, those who met Kaili described her consistently as warm and approachable, intellectually curious, analytically grounded, and genuinely committed to the people in her care. Faculty noted her responsiveness and humility. Administrators were struck by her whole-school perspective and systems thinking. Parents described a leader who listens carefully and inspires confidence. These qualities, alongside Kaili’s deep experience in independent school leadership and her personal connection to the bicultural identity CAIS celebrates, make her the right leader for this moment in our School’s history.

As a result, the Search Committee unanimously recommended her to the Board of Trustees, which unanimously approved her appointment.

Kaili shares: “It is my absolute honor and joy to join the CAIS community. I am deeply drawn to CAIS’s unwavering and longstanding commitment to honoring and celebrating Chinese language and culture through an inclusive lens, a core part of my own identity that I have been eager to bridge into my professional life. I am excited to serve as CAIS’s next chief storyteller, to amplify how we honor and build upon CAIS’s rich history for a vibrant and inspiring future. I look forward to learning from, and collaborating with, the exceptional students, families, faculty, and staff who make this community so remarkable. Go Firedragons!”

Kaili steps into a role that Jeff Bissell will have led with extraordinary care and distinction for 17 years, and she inherits a school that is strong, purposeful, and full of possibility. We are confident that she will honor that legacy and carry CAIS forward with vision, integrity, and deep love for our community.

Please join me in welcoming Kaili, her husband Greg, and their daughter Athena to the CAIS family!

With deep gratitude and great optimism,

Peter Shiau
Board Chair
CAIS

亲爱的中美社区成员：

大家好！我谨代表董事会，怀着无比荣幸与喜悦的心情，向大家宣布：黄凯立博士将出任中美国际学校下一任校长，自2027年7月1日起正式履新。

这一任命，源于一个全面而深植价值观的遴选过程，凝聚了中美整个社区的参与与支持。每一份投入、每一份声音，都彰显着中美社区最动人的特质：这是一个彼此关怀、深度思考、相互托举的社区。遴选委员会对所有倾注时间与心血的成员，致以最诚挚的谢意。

凯立的卓然之处，在于她广博而契合的经历。她曾在四个不同国家的学校带领课堂教学、领导教学部发展和主持全校项目，始终将学生体验置于首位，致力于营造一种兼具信任、严谨与归属感的校园文化。作为一位普通话为母语的教育者，她曾在亚洲与美国的多元社区生活与工作，对我们中美核心使命，“双语双文化”，拥有真实而深刻的个人体悟。

在整个遴选过程中，所有与凯立交流过的人，无不被她的亲和、温润与真诚所打动。她既有对知识的炽热追求，也有对事物的冷静思考，更怀着一份对每一位社区成员发自内心的关怀。教师们赞誉她的敏锐与谦和；管理团队折服于她的全局视野与系统思维；家长们则将她视作善于倾听、值得托付的引路人。这些珍贵的品质，加上她在私立学校领导岗位上的深厚积淀，以及她与中美所珍视的多远文化身份之间那份天然的共鸣，使她成为在这一重要时刻引领学校的理想人选。

正因如此，遴选委员会一致向董事会推荐凯立，董事会也全票通过了这一任命。

凯立分享到：“能够加入中美社区，我内心充满着无比荣幸与喜悦。中美始终以开阔而包容的胸怀，坚定不移地传承与弘扬中华语言与文化，这一点深深吸引着我，也与我的身份认同紧密相连。我一直渴望将这份认同融入我的职业生涯。我期待作为中美的下一任‘首席故事讲述者’，讲述我们的精彩，延续中美国际深厚的历史底蕴，迈向一个充满活力与希望的未来。我也无比期待向这个独特而卓越的社区中的成员，学生、家庭、教师和员工们学习，与大家携手同行。火龙，加油！”

凯立将接替在过去十七年间，以卓越关怀与非凡领导力，引领学校不断前行的毕杰夫校长。她接手的，是一所根基坚实、方向清晰、未来无限广阔的学校。我们深信，她将珍惜这份沉甸甸的精神财富，以远见、正直以及对中美社区深沉的热爱，带领中美走向更加灿烂的明天。

请大家与我一同，欢迎凯立、她的丈夫Greg (黄格瑞) 以及他们的女儿Athena (黄银河) 加入中美大家庭！

谨致以最诚挚的感谢与最美好的期盼，

萧孝恒
董事会主席
中美国际学校