About_ChrisBio.jpg
Chris's Corner
Welcome!
Read recent messages and speeches to the Branson community by Head of School Chris Mazzola here.
![Chris Mazzola speaks at 2022 Graduation]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1656700981/bransonorg/qen7oagyhkxxmcwa0pjh/BransonGraduation2022.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1656700981/bransonorg/qen7oagyhkxxmcwa0pjh/BransonGraduation2022.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1656700981/bransonorg/qen7oagyhkxxmcwa0pjh/BransonGraduation2022.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1656700981/bransonorg/qen7oagyhkxxmcwa0pjh/BransonGraduation2022.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1656700981/bransonorg/qen7oagyhkxxmcwa0pjh/BransonGraduation2022.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1656700981/bransonorg/qen7oagyhkxxmcwa0pjh/BransonGraduation2022.jpg","width":1642}])
Head of School Chris Mazzola's Graduation speech to the Class of 2022 on June 7, 2022 at Prize Day Field
![Branson Convocation 2021]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1636257685/bransonorg/lx6gcfogpmv49awkpuvw/Convocation2021_Speechpost_sm.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1636257685/bransonorg/lx6gcfogpmv49awkpuvw/Convocation2021_Speechpost_sm.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1636257685/bransonorg/lx6gcfogpmv49awkpuvw/Convocation2021_Speechpost_sm.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1636257685/bransonorg/lx6gcfogpmv49awkpuvw/Convocation2021_Speechpost_sm.jpg","width":1000}])
Head of School Chris Mazzola's Convocation speech to students, faculty/ staff and parents of seniors, September 24, 2021.
![Branson Convocation 2021]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1636258498/bransonorg/k2ybbc59jq3fw7tb7itq/Graduation_2021_102.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1636258498/bransonorg/k2ybbc59jq3fw7tb7itq/Graduation_2021_102.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1636258498/bransonorg/k2ybbc59jq3fw7tb7itq/Graduation_2021_102.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1636258498/bransonorg/k2ybbc59jq3fw7tb7itq/Graduation_2021_102.jpg","width":1000}])
Head of School Chris Mazzola's Graduation speech to the Class of 2021, on June 10, 2021.
![Branson Convocation 2021]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1636264880/bransonorg/nj3tc9ymwnv1nchlf7gh/CHRIS_LEtTER_EDIt_crop.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1636264880/bransonorg/nj3tc9ymwnv1nchlf7gh/CHRIS_LEtTER_EDIt_crop.png","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1636264880/bransonorg/nj3tc9ymwnv1nchlf7gh/CHRIS_LEtTER_EDIt_crop.png","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1636264880/bransonorg/nj3tc9ymwnv1nchlf7gh/CHRIS_LEtTER_EDIt_crop.png","width":1068}])
Head of School Chris Mazzola's March 18, 2021 letter to the Branson community in the wake of the ongoing acts of violence against Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander people in our country.
![US Capitol Building]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1636265770/bransonorg/tm5oyenehqoktlfj0a0f/USCapitol.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1636265770/bransonorg/tm5oyenehqoktlfj0a0f/USCapitol.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1636265770/bransonorg/tm5oyenehqoktlfj0a0f/USCapitol.jpg","width":638}])
A response from Head of School Chris Mazzola to the attacks on the U.S. Capitol, shared January 14, 2021.
![Red tree]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1613797989/bransonorg/mybwjkhhi8vyupljsitp/IMG_0197.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1613797989/bransonorg/mybwjkhhi8vyupljsitp/IMG_0197.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1613797989/bransonorg/mybwjkhhi8vyupljsitp/IMG_0197.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1613797989/bransonorg/mybwjkhhi8vyupljsitp/IMG_0197.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1613797989/bransonorg/mybwjkhhi8vyupljsitp/IMG_0197.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1613797989/bransonorg/mybwjkhhi8vyupljsitp/IMG_0197.jpg","width":2200}])
Head of School Chris Mazzola and members of the Board shared this statement on July 21, 2020 reflecting on the role that Branson has played in perpetuating systemic injustice over the last 100 years and pledging to do better in our second century.
![Branson Convocation 2021]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1636419242/bransonorg/l8kwdts30rbsjoxgvvxm/StrategicPlanCover.png","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1636419242/bransonorg/l8kwdts30rbsjoxgvvxm/StrategicPlanCover.png","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1636419242/bransonorg/l8kwdts30rbsjoxgvvxm/StrategicPlanCover.png","width":800}])
Head of School Chris Mazzola's speech from the launch of the school's new strategic plan on January 26, 2019.
Meet Head of School Chris Mazzola
Chris Mazzola is in her 7th year as Branson's Head of School. Raised in a family of educators, Chris holds degrees from both Dartmouth College (BS) and Vanderbilt University (MAT), and has spent over three decades working with teenagers. Prior to Branson, she was a teacher, coach, and administrator at the Thacher School in Ojai, CA for twenty years, and High School Principal at St. Anne’s Belfield School in Charlottesville, Virginia for five years.
Chris loves working with teenagers, and her philosophy of education centers around creating student-centered programs and environments that not only prepare adolescents for college, but more importantly, prepare them to make a positive impact in the world through serving their own and the world's greatest good.
Chris has been married to her husband Rich for 31 years and they have two grown children. In her spare time, Chris loves to garden and play tennis.