Head of School Search

The Board of Trustees is responsible for hiring Friends Academy’s next Head of School – this is the single most important role of a school board.  To lead the process, the FA Board has selected a Search Committee comprised of Trustees. Roseann Martin (Parent ’23, ’25, '29) and Steve Witthuhn (Alum ’01, Parent ’31, ’35) will clerk the committee, whose full membership can be found below.  The Search Committee will partner with Carney Sandoe & Associates (CS&A), a dedicated independent school search consulting firm, to drive the process and recommend a candidate to the Board.  The full Board will ultimately be responsible for approving the appointment of Friends Academy's next Head of School.

The most significant goal is to identify a new Head of School for Friends Academy. We are seeking a leader who will embrace our Quaker values and traditions; build upon the investments made over the last several years in our program, campus and reinforcing our community standards; and chart a bold path forward for future investment in Friends Academy.

Importantly, the search is an opportunity to engage the entire Friends Academy community as we seek a new leader.  Our committee and consultants will meet with members from across our school community to shape the position description that will define what we are looking for in our next head of school.  And we will aim to have a full year of transition between Paul Stellato and our new head of school in 2025-26, as we celebrate FA’s 150th anniversary and look forward to our school’s bright future.

The Board of Trustees has the full and final responsibility for selecting and hiring Friends Academy’s next Head of School. To facilitate the search process, the Board created a Search Committee that will drive the search process. The full Board will meet final candidates advanced by the Search Committee and, at the conclusion of the process, will name the new Head based on the Search Committee’s recommendation.

The Search Committee directs the search from start to finish, working closely with our consultants to craft a position statement, interview a prioritized slate of candidates, and focus on the most promising finalist candidates. The Committee is charged to ensure that the process is transparent, thorough, and comprehensive. It will coordinate input and feedback from the school’s varied constituencies, and keep the community informed as the process evolves while maintaining the discretion and flexibility needed to maximize the quality of our candidate pool and ultimately recommend the best next head of school for FA.

CS&A is the leading search firm dedicated to independent school searches. CS&A has led hundreds of national searches for independent schools in the greater New York metropolitan area and around the country. The CS&A team, led by consultants Mark Davis, Scott Nelson and Willy MacMullen, will work with the Search Committee to identify Friends Academy’s next Head of School. Mark, Scott and Willy are all former heads of school at prestigious independent schools, and between them have more than seven decades of experience leading schools and recruiting new leaders.

Paul Stellato will continue his outstanding leadership of Friends Academy throughout the search process and after its completion, through the date of his departure in June 2026. While Paul will not formally be involved with the search process, he will meet personally with the consulting team to offer his perspectives on the future leadership needs of the school based upon his successful tenure at and deep understanding of Friends Academy, and his decades of experience in independent school leadership. 

Most importantly, Paul and the Board of Trustees remain fully aligned and in close partnership on the direction of the school and eager to continue the strong momentum that has been built over Paul’s tenure. As FA will be Paul’s final stop before retirement, he will be able to focus all of his professional energy on completing his tenure at FA strongly. Paul and his team will remain fully responsible and empowered by the Board to implement the school’s operating plan through the time of his departure, as well as continue to make a range of investments to continue the school along its strategic path.

The Search Committee is committed to an inclusive process that involves input and engagement from faculty, staff, administration, parents and alumni. FA colleagues will be engaged through interviews and open forums during the consultants’ initial site visit that will shape the position statement for the next Head of School. Parents will have an opportunity to learn about the process and provide thoughts to our Search Committee through a Zoom call during the site visit, and our consultants will meet with the Parent Council Executive Committee during their site visit. All constituents will have the opportunity to complete a survey to express their aspirations and expectations for our search, which will shape our position description.

Following the site visit, we will be forming a Colleagues Advisory Council to meet directly with the Search Committee and provide further input throughout the process. The Search Committee also welcomes outreach throughout the process from all constituents to members individually or collectively through the email address headsearch2025@fa.org.

With the guidance of our consultants and our learnings from our search in 2022, our Search Committee will be focused on balancing opportunities for community engagement to shape our search, with the discretion and flexibility needed to maximize the caliber of our candidate pool and ultimately recommend the best possible candidate to the Board of Trustees as Friends Academy’s next head of school. 

To enable our consultants to recruit the best possible candidates, we will need to keep the identities of candidates confidential until the final stages of the process. Though we hope to invite finalists to campus to meet the school community, even then it might be important to maintain some degree of confidentiality.

To maximize community input in our head of school search, we will begin by gathering extensive feedback to shape and finalize the position description. Our goal is to conclude the search before the end of the 2024-25 school year, allowing a full year for the new head of school to engage with the community and partner with Paul Stellato for a smooth transition.

Questions concerning the search process can be directed to the Search Committee at headsearch2025@fa.org. We will also be posting updates on this Head of School search webpage, which can be accessed from the friendsacademy.org homepage. We welcome recommendations and referrals from members of the FA community for candidates that merit our consideration. All referrals received will be turned over to our consultants who will determine appropriate follow-up.