As Head of an Independent School in St. Paul, Minnesota, Mike Downs began blogging while on a trip to China in 2006 to hire Mandarin teachers. The success of his postings from China led to an offer to blog for the National Association of Independent Schools at their annual conference in New York in 2008.

Downs spent the first 15 years of his career between the worlds of theater and education, having taken degrees in theater from UCLA. He directed over thirty plays and musicals in the professional and educational theaters in the US and in Israel, where he lived for seven years.

He has held leadership positions in three independent schools in the US since 1991. He posts a weekly Head’s Message about life in school, believing that there is much good happening in America’s schools today that goes unappreciated.

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