An Announcement f ro m
Strong Minds. Kind Hearts.
F e b ru a ry 2 5 , 2 0 1 5
Friends Academy
270 Duck Pond Road | Locust Valley, New York 11560 | 516.676.0393 | www.fa.org
Strong Minds. Kind Hearts.
February 25, 2015 Tom Hawkins Scott Rechler Co-Presidents, Board of Trustees Friends Academy Tom and Scott, I am writing to inform you that I will conclude my service to Friends Academy as Head of School at the end of the 2015-16 school year. That will mark 13 years at the school for Sue and me, and 40 years for us serving students, parents, and colleagues in independent schools. For FA and us, 2016 is the right time for change. As you know, this decision is in keeping with our discussions in the spring of 2012 and fits the plans that Sue and I have had in our minds as well. As we look forward to the next chapter in our lives, we are not closing the book on FA, for the imprint of this remarkable Quaker community on our hearts, minds, and souls will endure, and we will miss the people and place dearly (especially calling snow days!). I find myself thinking about our initial visit to Friends in 2002 and how taken we were with the sense of community and the palpable commitment of all to the mission of the school. The aspiration of instilling in young people the Quaker testimonies and building strong minds and kind hearts resonated powerfully with us then as it does now, and we feel honored that the students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, and Board have embraced us in a shared journey to bring our mission alive, to enhance teaching and learning, and to support students in finding meaning and purpose in their lives so that they can serve the world and make it a better place. As our graduates go off to college and into life, they do so exceedingly well-prepared to find personal success and be responsible citizens. Each day, as I see the smiles on our students’ faces and the joy in their interactions with each other and the faculty, I am optimistic about the future for them and for all people because they understand the great lesson of all religions and philosophies – that we discover ourselves through connecting and giving to others. The FA community should feel confident in moving forward. As the recent New York State Association of Independent Schools Decennial Accreditation visit affirmed, our school is in excellent shape in all areas because of the collaboration and hard work of many. We have established excellence and innovation in our programs and nurtured an outstanding faculty and staff. We benefit from strong leadership from the Board, parents, and faculty and staff. We are enjoying all-time highs for enrollment, our demand is strong, and our financial foundation is rock solid. We have dramatically increased the
diversity of our community. We have an exquisite facility for educating young people. We have created a strategic vision and plan for the coming years. And, we have a FA family that loves this school and is unfailingly dedicated to sustaining its Quaker mission for current and future generations. In every way imaginable, we direct our efforts and resources to the well-being and personal and intellectual growth of the students who grace our halls each day. For all these reasons, Friends Academy deserves and will attract a terrific Head of School. Sue and I will do all we can to insure a seamless transition to the next leader. Our most heart-felt wish is that the community feel excitement about that person and the possibilities of the future. But, we are not leaving tomorrow, and so I look forward over the next 16 months to continue working tirelessly to help create the environment where our students, faculty and staff, and parents can discover and express the best within themselves – the Light, the Truth, that of God. I will also seek to advance the strategic initiatives of the school. During that time, Sue and I will celebrate the profound sense of gratitude we feel for all of you and this place we call Friends Academy. In this spirit, it seems fitting to close with the words of George Fox that I often cite: “Be patterns, be examples, in all countries, places, islands, nations wherever you come, that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering to that of God in everyone.” May we all heed Fox’s call to action, because then we will truly advocate for peace and human dignity. In Peace,
Friends Academy
270 Duck Pond Road | Locust Valley, New York 11560 | 516.676.0393 | www.fa.org
Strong Minds. Kind Hearts.
February 25, 2015 Dear Members of the Friends Academy Community: Bill Morris has informed the Board of Trustees that, consistent with our discussions when we renewed his contract in 2012, he intends to retire on June 30, 2016, the official end of the 2015-2016 academic year. Arriving in the summer of 2003, Bill is now one of Friends Academy’s longest serving Head of School. Immediately upon his arrival at Friends, Bill began making an impact on nearly all aspects of school life. Throughout his time at Friends, Bill has provided the FA community with outstanding daily operational oversight and institutional leadership that has resulted in an exceptional sense of community and spiritual life at Friends Academy. We are grateful to Bill for everything that he has done for FA over the past dozen years, and we are equally grateful for the work Bill has done to ensure that the school is in outstanding shape and optimally positioned for further growth and success. Friends Academy is stronger than ever thanks to its: committed and caring faculty, administration and staff; fully engaged and enthusiastic students and families; $45 million endowment; and record level of applications and enrollment. The Board of Trustees has already begun the process of searching for and hiring the next Head of School, and work has commenced to form a Search Committee to take the lead in identifying and recruiting a best-in-class Head of School that is capable of meeting FA’s high standards of excellence, strong values and commitment to community. We intend to keep the community well informed throughout the search process and will be relying on the broad participation of the community in a number of ways to ensure a successful outcome to our work on behalf of FA. All of us are deeply committed to the ongoing and future well-being of our school. The Board has retained the search firm, Educators’ Collaborative, to help us with our search. This firm has conducted over 370 successful head of school searches since 1971. Deirdre A. Ling and John Mackenzie, two partners with the firm, are our consultants. Both have served as heads of independent schools themselves and are well respected by educators throughout the country through well-developed professional networks. Both Deirdre and John feel that Friends Academy presents a very attractive professional opportunity that will produce an excellent pool of candidates. The success of this search will depend in large part on the input the search committee and the consultants receive from the Friends Academy community. Deirdre and John will be on campus later
this semester, during which time they will meet extensively with members of the FA community: students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni and trustees, in order to develop a leadership profile for FA’s next Head of School and to gain a sense of the opportunities and challenges facing the next Head of School. Deirdre and John are anticipating considerable interest from a well-qualified group of candidates. The top candidates, who appear to be the best fit for Friends Academy, will be invited to our campus for full-day interviews. There will be opportunities for representatives from all constituencies in our community to meet the candidates and provide feedback to the search committee. Ideally, a single candidate will rise to the top and be recommended to the Board for approval sometime in September/ October of this year. In the meantime, thank you for your support and we will continue to keep you informed about our progress. Sincerely, Scott Rechler & Tom Hawkins Co-Presidents, Board of Trustees