Fort Worth Country Day appoints new Head of Middle School

Fort Worth Country Day (FWCD) has named Stephen Blan as its new head of Middle School effective July 1, 2021. Blan succeeds John Stephens, who will depart FWCD at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year after 15 years of service.

Blan has been a member of the FWCD faculty since the 2016-17 academic year when he accepted a position as a Middle School history teacher. In 2018, he became FWCD’s first director of the Center for International Studies, and in 2019, was named assistant head of Middle School.

A graduate of Campbellsville University in Kentucky, Blan holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Educational Ministries. He also graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, where he earned a Master of Arts in Missiology.

Blan’s teaching career spans wide, as he spent three years teaching English in Turkey and also served a professional role with ConnecTeach, a nonprofit organization devoted to advancing education for teachers in underserved schools worldwide. He has also taught both seventh-grade science and eighth-grade social studies in the Fort Worth ISD, and spent eight years serving various roles within the Burleson ISD, including curriculum and school design team member at REALM Secondary School, as well as global literacy coordinator, learning technologies campus specialist, and sixth-grade social studies teacher at Kerr Middle School.

“Stephen was part of a stellar applicant pool, including four additional finalists who came to our campus from Wisconsin, Maryland, Tennessee and Thailand,” said Eric Lombardi, FWCD’s head of school. “He stood above as a faculty leader and student caregiver and clearly had the advantage of knowing the FWCD Mason Middle School well. Stephen is the complete package of teacher, coach and administrator.”

“Being able to help students through the difficult years of middle school brings me great joy,” said Blan. “Middle School plays an indispensable role in bridging the social-emotional, academic foundation built in lower school with the rigorous academic expectations in upper school. I’ve found the strong partnership FWCD has with parents to be the essential piece to being that successful bridge.”