Karen Warren Coleman PC’s Next Head of School

In October, William Penn Charter School’s Board of Trustees announced that Karen Warren Coleman would be the next head of school — the eighth in the modern era and the first woman to lead Penn Charter.

Karen Coleman will succeed Head of School Darryl J. Ford Hon. 1689, who in March informed Trustees that this academic year would be his last as he looks forward to a “third act” of his career.

Coleman is a distinguished educator and education leader with 25 years of experience in elementary, secondary and higher education, and in both independent and public institutions.

“Karen has devoted her career to the care and growth of students,” Jeffrey Reinhold, clerk of Penn Charter Trustees, said of her selection. “Karen’s passion for students has been in evidence in all of her interactions with the Penn Charter community throughout this process. She is smart and serious, and she can talk on any topic. She also is warm, friendly and skilled at building relationships. I am thrilled that Karen will join the Penn Charter community.”

Coleman had a chance to get to know more of the PC community when Reinhold announced her appointment during a faculty and staff meeting. After attending that meeting, she talked with students, met with Darryl Ford, visited classrooms and recorded a video message for the community. Watch that message at penncharter.com/coleman.

In accepting the headship, Coleman wrote, “It is an honor to be offered the opportunity to join Penn Charter at this moment in the school’s storied

Heads of School in the Modern Era

Richard Mott Jones 1874-1917 Richard Mott Gummere 1917-34 Richard Knowles 1935-41 John F. Gummere 1941-68

history, when Penn Charter has been transformed along every dimension under Darryl Ford’s leadership. In the coming years, I will embrace both leading and learning as I work with Penn Charter’s extraordinary faculty and staff to center students in everything we do. I am especially excited to engage directly with students, and to learn from parents and caregivers, and the incredible OPC community, about the special qualities that make Penn Charter such a powerful contributor to students’ lifelong journey. It will be enormously rewarding to learn about and immerse myself in Quaker values and practices as we support students in finding their purpose by drawing on the strength of Penn Charter’s Quaker identity.”

Most recently, Coleman was head of the Hockaday School, a college preparatory day and boarding school for girls in Dallas, Texas. Prior to that, she served as vice president for campus and student life at the University of Chicago and previously held leadership positions at three other universities, including associate dean of students at the University of California, Berkeley. Recognized for her expertise and published work, Coleman is frequently sought as a presenter and panelist.

At Hockaday, Coleman strengthened the school’s profile across every significant measure. She led Hockaday’s strategic planning process, which focused on curricular innovation, inclusion, the quality of the student experience, and financial sustainability. She also led a comprehensive research effort to identify the school’s market strength, vulnerabilities and strategic opportunities. During her tenure, Hockaday achieved key enrollment metrics — an increase in admissions applications and increased selectivity — and record fundraising for the annual fund. Under her leadership, Hockaday launched the Institute for Social Impact, a program focused on PK-12 hands-on learning that addresses real-world issues and includes coursework focused on community impact.

Coleman has a deep commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and justice that is reflected in both her professional career and research. Under her leadership, Hockaday’s enrollment of students of color increased by nearly a third, while diversity on the school’s board increased fourfold. As a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania, Coleman conducted her dissertation research on Stories Seldom Told: Low Income, FirstGeneration African-American Male Students at Highly Selective Research Universities. Her master’s thesis at the University of Vermont was titled Education as the Means to Freedom: A Critical Analysis of Oppression.

Coleman graduated cum laude from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a BA in psychology. She was born and raised in the Bronx, New York, and attended Stuyvesant High School in New York City. Karen and her husband, Andrew Coleman, are passionate travelers and love the outdoors. Andy, after a career as an attorney and an e-commerce executive, has worked for almost 10 years as a professional photographer, traveling the globe, camera in hand, in search of amazing wildlife and landscapes; his images and stories have been featured with National Geographic and in other books and media. They will relocate to Philadelphia along with their yellow Lab, Wrigley. PC

Coleman had a chance to get to know more of the community when she visited PC’s campus the day Trustees announced her hiring.

“I am especially excited to engage directly with students, and to learn from parents and caregivers, and the incredible OPC community, about the special qualities that make Penn Charter such a powerful contributor to students’ lifelong journey.”

– Karen Warren Coleman

Heads of School in the Modern Era

Wilbert L. Braxton 1968-76 Earl J. Ball III 1976-2007 Darryl J. Ford 2007-2023 Karen Warren Coleman 2023