Tyler Casertano likes to walk around. He likes to take in the “ambient noise” of the campus. It gives him energy to see people working through a project or solving a problem together in a classroom. More than once he’s been found listening in on a Middle School math lesson. Recently, he took the Haverford/EA Day Sweater for a tour of the Lower School, leading to squeals of delight from Haverford’s youngest students. It’s a quiet leadership trait that serves him well in his first year as Haverford’s Head of School. While he’s becoming acquainted with The Haverford School, its culture, and its many traditions, he already knows a startling number of students’ names, offering fist bumps and words of encouragement to boys and faculty alike as he tours campus. “He cares about and comes to know every student. His classes seemingly always started with a sort of banter about a student’s
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performance in a choral concert, or a big play made on the field,” said Sherry Rusher, Dean of Faculty at St. Albans School and longtime friend and colleague of Casertano. “He’s keeping track. He pays attention. As a result, you’d find a wide variety of boys seeking his advice on one thing or another. He became a safe space for boys to be themselves. He’s certainly doing the same at Haverford.” He’s building relationships, one walk at a time. Tyler Casertano became Haverford’s Head of School—only it’s tenth since 1884—on July 1, 2021. He inherited a School in a strong position, complete with a new, state-of-the-art Middle School and a team of extraordinary faculty members. Casertano has dedicated the beginning of his tenure at Haverford to learning from his faculty and staff and to supporting the boys, both of which require strong relationships and trust.
