Sara Rubinstein serves as Head of School at Carrollwood Day School, a prek-12 independent, IB World school of 1100+ students with a focus on creating principled, entrepreneurial thinkers for a global society.  She came to CDS in 2017 as Head of Upper School with a strong background in curriculum development and academic leadership having previously served as Assistant Headmaster for Academics and the Head of Upper School at Saint Andrew's School, a day and boarding school in Boca Raton, FL and Head of Upper School and Director of Students at St. Andrew’s School in Savannah, GA. In April 2019, she was appointed Assistant Head of School for Academics at CDS and was promoted to Head of School in August 2020.

Recognized nationally as an allostatic academic leader, Sara was invited to participate in and was included in a publication of The NAIS 2025 and Beyond Initiative: An Invitation to Participate in Co-Creating Our Future, an NAIS project in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020 she was a presenter at the NAIS Speed Innovating program. Sara also participates in The NAIS Strategy Lab events and represents CDS as part of the Mastery Transcript Consortium®, a network of private and public schools who are building a mastery transcript that authentically and holistically captures student learning, progress, and interests.

A native of Buffalo, NY, Sara began her career in higher education as a Composition and Literature Instructor at the University of Michigan, where she earned her MA in Language and Literature and her MA in Secondary Education. She was a student teacher at Mumford High School in Detroit, Michigan before accepting a position as an English teacher, residential faculty member, and coach at Cranbrook Kingswood, a private boarding and day school in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  She currently lives in Carrollwood with her husband, Adam Rifenberick, their four children, and their two Springer Spaniels.