About Spence

Welcome

Welcome from the Head of School Felicia A. Wilks

From the first time I walked through Spence’s Red Doors, I have experienced the genuine welcome and excitement for learning that defines this community. Spence is a joyful place where girls ages 5 to 18 are empowered to cultivate a passion for lifelong scholarly pursuits and confidence in their ability to positively impact the world around them.
As a graduate of an all-girls’ school, I am forever grateful for the impactful ways that my education has shaped the person I am today and inspired my life’s calling as an educator. I recognize and applaud the myriad ways in which Spence teachers affirm young minds by promoting each girl's acquisition of knowledge, positive sense of self, healthy habits of mind, and keen interest in shaping their future. This is why it is so deeply meaningful to me to lead Spence in preparing a new generation of girls and young women to engage the world with insight, curiosity, and courage.  
 
Spence’s visionary founder, Clara Spence, started our school in 1892 to create opportunities for girls and young women to challenge their intellect, build their character, and engage with their world as active citizens. Today, Spence students continue to live this vision by learning from multiple perspectives to achieve a nuanced understanding of the complex issues our world faces. A spirit of sisterhood undergirds the School’s commitment to being an inclusive, equitable, multi-identity community in which each student is supported to reach her highest potential. I have great admiration for the faculty and staff at Spence who build close relationships with each student, and foster an environment where scholars of all ages take intellectual risks, and ask questions of themselves and their communities that lead them toward personal transformation and a sense of responsibility to others. 
 
I invite you to explore Spence’s vibrant community of learners, where each student is known, loved, and challenged, and where joy in learning together abounds.
 

Spence in Conversation with Felicia Wilks is a podcast that pursues ideas crucial to the intellectual journey of young women today. Be sure to follow and subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Felicia's Favorite Moments

Meet Felicia Wilks

Felicia Wilks’ deep and versatile experience includes serving as teacher, department chair, diversity director, division head and assistant head of school in independent, Quaker, day, boarding, all-girls’ and coeducational schools. Most recently she served as the Assistant Head of School and the Upper School Director at Lakeside School, a nationally recognized school in Seattle, Washington. Her leadership in independent school education also includes serving as Upper School English Department Chair, and Director of Diversity at the Friends School of Baltimore, as well as the Head of Upper School at the Garrison Forest School, a renowned independent K-12 girls’ school with a coed preschool and national and international boarding program in Owings Mills, Maryland. Ms. Wilks graduated from the all-girls Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore and strongly believes in the mission of single-sex education for girls and women. Ms. Wilks holds a bachelor’s degree in African American Studies from Columbia University and a master’s degree in Writing from Johns Hopkins University. Watch the 2022 Investiture Ceremony for Felicia Wilks

Felicia Wilks, Head of School

“Spence faculty and staff build meaningful relationships with each student and foster an environment where scholars of all ages take intellectual risks, and ask questions of themselves and their communities that lead them toward personal transformation and a sense of responsibility to others.”
Explore Spence

Founded in 1892

With 10 Students

4,374 Alumnae

Live in 47 states and 33 countries

38 % of Teachers

have taught at Spence for more than 10 years

50%

Employees of Color

Middle & Upper School

22 East 91st Street
New York, NY 10128

Lower School

56 East 93rd Street
New York, NY 10128

Athletic & Educational Facility

412 East 90th Street
New York, NY 10128
A K-12 independent school in New York City, The Spence School prepares a diverse community of girls and young women for the demands of academic excellence and responsible citizenship.

212-289-5940


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