The Board of Trustees of All Saints Episcopal School are proud to announce the selection of a highly qualified, well-known, and prominent school and community leader for the 19th Head of School.
Robert Brashear assumed the role of Interim Head of School in February 2021. Effectively immediately, Brashear will assume the position as the permanent Head of School.
“Robert Brashear has a desire to uphold the values and traditions of the All Saints School and community,” Chairman of the All Saints Board of Trustees Zane Mead said. “His comprehensive background in education and natural leadership, along with his passion for developing the utmost potential from our students will continue to drive All Saints School forward.”
Brashear has served as the school’s Athletic Director and varsity boys basketball coach for the past 12 years. In addition, he has assumed many other leadership roles within the school including serving on the school’s administrative team, COVID Task Force and a mentor in the high school chapel program. Brashear has worked with many educational and athletic organizations including the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS).
He has a wide range of professional experience including management and corporate sales in the transportation industry for ten years and nine years as an assistant men’s Texas Tech basketball coach. In addition, he founded Brashear Basketball, a program offering classes, camps, and private instruction to youth of all ages. He has also taught youth Sunday school classes at First United Methodist Church of Lubbock for several years.
“There is no one in the world I’d rather have serving as the Head of School for All Saints Episcopal School than Robert Brashear,” Krista Bumstead, Secretary of the All Saints Board of Trustees, said. “His nearly 15 years at All Saints is complemented by his background in business and coaching. Through a humble leadership style, Robert has demonstrated his passion for educating student leaders and effectively carrying out the All Saints mission of providing excellence in academics, fine arts, and spiritual awareness. We already know Robert Brashear as a vital part of our community. All Saints Episcopal School couldn’t be in better hands.”
Brashear has long been considered an asset to All Saints within the school’s community. In November of 2019 Brashear was recognized by the All Saints community for his dedication to the school when a generous donation was presented to the honor then Athletic Director Robert Brashear with the naming of Patriot Gym Court. Brashear requested the floor be named the Brashear Family Court in honor of the All Saints coaching staff working beside him and in honor of his personal family.
In 2018 he received two very prestigious awards for his leadership on the court. Brashear was named as the TAPPS 2A Coach of the Year and the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) 2A Coach of the Year. Nominations for the prestigious TABC award are submitted by Texas High School basketball coaches, and voted on by regional coordinators and committees. The TABC is the largest coaches’ organization in the nation.
During his nine year tenure as the varsity boys basketball coach, he led his teams to eight area championships, six regional championships, four state finalist titles, and a 2018 TAPPS 2A State Championship.
Brashear is a Lubbock native and graduate of Coronado High School. Growing up he had three passions – academics, music and sports. Many might be surprised to know that Brashear was as comfortable performing as a cellist with the Lubbock Symphony Orchestra as he was playing on the basketball court.
As a high school senior, Brashear received both music and athletic scholarship offers to several prestigious universities. Ultimately, he decided to pursue his education at the United States Air Force Academy with a lifelong dream to be a pilot. He played basketball at the Air Force Academy for two years until transferring to Texas Tech University.
He went on to obtain dual degrees in History and English from Texas Tech where he also played basketball for the Red Raiders. Brashear was selected as a Mayborn Scholar in the school of Mass Communications at Texas Tech where he pursued his graduate work in Journalism.
He is married to Jennifer Lisle Brashear. She works in the Texas Tech Athletic Department and serves as the Senior Associate Athletic Director for Internal Affairs and Compliance. They are the proud parents of two daughters; Ellyn a 2020 All Saints graduate and junior at Oklahoma State University and Lauren, who is currently in the seventh grade at All Saints.
As the official Head of School, Brashear has turned his attention to leading All Saints as the school seeks to continue its educational excellence and make adjustments to meet today’s ever changing challenges.
“All Saints stands alone in our area with our commitment to developing the whole child through rigorous academics and the encouragement of participation for all in the arts and athletic competition,” Brashear said. “We are so fortunate to be able to pursue these passions in a faith-based environment with a commitment to service beyond self.”
Brashear said he has set his goals as the leader for All Saints “to continue the excellence in academics found at All Saints for the past 60-plus years while focusing on the continued development of the ‘whole child.’ He plans to continue the All Saints commitment to outstanding and rigorous academics, fine arts, athletics, faith-based living and service beyond self.
“All Saints graduates should be able to vigorously face life’s challenges and always compete positively and invite and lead others along their journey,” Brashear said. “ Parents and others in the All Saints community should feel confident that All Saints students are being challenged on a daily basis to become the best version of themselves. If we are all able to confidently take our best self into life the world will benefit.”
To accomplish his goals, Brashear has identified the school’s strengths and weaknesses and is developing means to build upon those strengths and overcome the obstacles.
“Simply put, the primary strength for All Saints is its people…the skilled and passionate teachers, directors and coaches working with talented and motivated students supported by engaged families and a focused and energetic administration and Board of Trustees,” he said.
Brashear has set goals to build upon the school’s strengths. His goals include hiring the right staff, aligning curriculum throughout all grade levels, enhancing the student support system to better monitor and assist students, and improving the school’s marketing strategies.
He said the most important element in achieving his goals is to continue to hire, motivate, and support the faculty and staff at All Saints.
“The faculty we enjoy at All Saints are outstanding and masters of their craft and supremely dedicated to growing young people,” he said. “Their leadership to each other, students and families is what makes All Saints stand alone in West Texas.”
He said the continuing improvement at All Saints was immediately evident this past spring with the addition of more outstanding teachers to the staff. “The professional accomplishments of our new faculty are impressive, and I can’t wait for our current faculty, students and families to get to know the new members of our All Saints family,” Brashear said.
He believes school improvements are a never-ending process which must become a passion for students, parents, faculty, and staff. Brashear said, “I am fond of Aristotle’s quote referencing excellence and improvement, We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit.”
“Academically, our biggest challenge is to continuously evaluate all of our varied curriculums and ensure that all of our teaching is aligned and organized so that we continue to turn out the high-quality graduates that we are seeing,” Brashear said. “In working through this on-going process it is of paramount importance to ensure that what we are teaching is leading edge while availing our faculty and students to the technology and necessary supports for the rapidly changing delivery methods for instruction.”
Brashear said his immediate focus is to reassure academic curriculum alignment. “Our plan is to work from the top down to ensure that as our students progress that they are always ready for the next step which is ultimately preparing them for Advanced Placement success in high school which leads to continued success in college admissions and financial merit awards,” he said.
“Another priority at All Saints is the enhancement of our student support systems,” Brashear said. “In a rigorous academic environment we must have the systems in place to monitor and assist students to ensure that they are progressing as they should. A strong student support system will also aid students and families alike in navigating an environment where the academic and personal expectations are high.”
He said the school’s biggest obstacle is the realization that continued improvement is an on-going process.
“Good organization and a reasonable plan to recognize the things that are working well and work to improve areas that need improving are important,” Brashear said. “One of the biggest assets we enjoy at All Saints is the high-level and enormous experience of our faculty. I plan to utilize all of our faculty’s varied talents and experience in working together and learning from each other.”
“As a proud and thankful parent at All Saints I see few weaknesses, but long-term I want to increase the brand recognition of All Saints in our area, which will drive admissions and help us recruit and retain the top students in the Lubbock area,” Brashear said. “We must fly our flag proudly showcasing the strength and success of our graduates.”