This story appeared in the 2025 edition of Full Circle magazine, which you can access here.
Sarah Vander Ploeg Beck
Sarah Vander Ploeg Beck ’02, who has recently been appointed the Head of School at Windward School in Los Angeles, credits Castilleja and her parents for her lessons about the power of education. “My family and Castilleja faculty made me believe that I had the ability to make the world better, whichever path I chose for myself,” Sarah says. “I left Castilleja believing I could be a leader.”
Sarah’s family is deeply connected to the school. Her sisters, Anne Vander Ploeg ’06 and Kate Vander Ploeg McCracken ’04, both graduated from Castilleja, and Kate returned from 2020 to 2023 to serve as the Director of Counseling. Her mother Jeanne taught economics at Castilleja from 1998 to 2001, and her father Mark served as a trustee from 2004 to 2010.
After Castilleja, Sarah earned a degree in race and ethnicity from Stanford and worked in the private sector. Eventually, she decided to pivot to her true passion: education. Sarah got a master’s degree in secondary education in Washington, D.C., where she lives with her family.
“My dad was the first in his family to graduate from college, and education was a transformative force in his life,” Sarah explains. “My mom, too, was an inspiration. She pursued an MBA at a time when very few women did, and she was always committed to learning, whether through formal education or informal avenues.”
Sarah started her career in education as a 7th grade history teacher, eventually becoming a Director of Student Services at Glasgow Middle School in Falls Church, Virginia. During this time, she earned the title of Fairfax County Public Schools’ Outstanding Leader of the Year and the Outstanding Alumni Achievement Award from George Washington University. Later, she joined The Langley School as the Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Lower School Head, and Assistant Head for Programs. She is currently the Interim Head of Upper School and Assistant Head for Academics at the Potomac School.
To Sarah, school administration feels like a true calling. It’s where she can support students and teachers alike. “Right now it seems like communities are harder and harder to come by,” she says. “Schools have become some of the strongholds where communities are intentionally created and cultivated. Kids can thrive, and families can feel connected, and faculty can do purposeful and impactful work. From the upheaval of COVID to the political divisions and the wildfires in Los Angeles, we’ve seen how vulnerable communities can be during times of crisis,” Sarah adds. “The strength of community is more essential than ever.”
At Castilleja, Sarah drew inspiration from teachers, who were her educators, role models, and mentors, too. She found special meaning in her “Coming of Age” English class, taught by Cissy LewisHA, where she was asked to connect assignments to her own life. She also remembers reading complex texts in 8th grade history class, taught by Joseph MitchellHA. In college, she was surprised to see that her classmates were encountering these texts for the first time.
Sarah also cherishes her Castilleja friendships with classmates and with girls in different grades, which she cultivated while carpooling with older students, working on the school newspaper, and playing on the soccer and softball teams.
At Castilleja, she also learned to encourage others to share their stories and speak out. As an administrator, Sarah regularly hosts panels and professional development sessions dedicated to practicing asking difficult questions and developing listening skills. These skills are foundational for learning and for building school communities, she says. “It connects to civil discourse. If you can slow down and listen and really understand people’s stories, it can break down stereotypes during this polarized political moment in our society.”
People have different motivations for pursuing leadership careers. “Some people get into leadership to fix something they had a bad experience with,” Sarah says. Others encounter the opposite. “I’m lucky enough because of Castilleja for it to be the latter. I had such a positive experience as a student. To be able to offer that to students, families, and faculty feels like a real gift.”
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