FRIENDS SEMINARY , New York

UPPER SCHOOL HEAD Start Date: July 2021 friendsseminary.org Mission Friends Seminary educates students from kindergarten through twelfth grade, adhering to the values of the Religious Society of Friends. We strive to build a diverse school where students exercise their curiosity and imagination as they develop as scholars, artists and athletes. In a community that cultivates the practices of keen observation, unhurried reflection, critical thinking, and coherent expression, we listen for the single voice as we seek unity. The disciplines of silence, study, and service provide the matrix for growth: silence opens us to change; study helps us to know the world; service challenges us to put our values into practice. At Friends Seminary, education is rooted in the Quaker belief in the Inner Light – that of God in every person. Guided by the testimonies of integrity, peace, equality, and simplicity, we prepare students to engage in the world that is and to help bring about a world that ought to be.

OVERVIEW

As the oldest continuously operated coeducational day school in , Friends Seminary has prepared students in Kindergarten through Grade 12 for success in college and beyond since 1786. A Friends School rooted in Quaker values, Friends Seminary emphasizes character development as much as it does college preparation. Inspired by the Quaker testimonies of integrity, equality, simplicity, community, service, and peaceful conflict resolution, faculty forge a curriculum that helps students locate their innate curiosity and exercise their imaginations through a program of study that embraces learning in the classrooms, on the fields and stages, in the community, and throughout the world.

In addition to an overarching mission that interweaves the school’s college preparatory goals and Quaker values, Friends Seminary is guided by Community Service and Diversity mission statements. Institutional commitments to service and respect for others yield a community that is giving and nurturing, that embraces differences, and seeks to recognize “that of God” in each individual, seeing past distinctions and identifying the common threads of humanity.

Friends Seminary seeks a new Upper School Head effective July 2021. This new leader will be an integral part of the Friends Seminary community and should be a collaborative, inspiring individual who is committed to the values that define Friends Seminary’s diverse, service-driven Quaker community. The Upper School Head will report directly to the Head of School, Robert (Bo) Lauder, who is in his 19th year in the position.

CARNEYSANDOE.COM 2 Fast Facts Founded: 1786 Total students: 789 Upper School students: 297 Total faculty and staff: 181 Faculty with advanced degrees: 80% Student/faculty ratio: 7:1 Students of color: 37% Students receiving financial aid: 22%

SCHOOL HISTORY

Quaker Education began over three centuries ago in England, during a period of unrest and political upheaval in the country. As individuals sought something that would give meaning to lives that looked increasingly bleak, George Fox started the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). His society was defined by the idea that there exists “that of God” in everyone, and that one can gain access to the God within through stillness and the practice of silence.

Careful listening, compassion, non-violence, full equality of women (the School was co-ed from the beginning), and social action in pursuit of social justice came to define the practices and values of the Society, which first established schools in England to provide their children with a “guarded” education anchored in these values.

When Quakers came to America, they quickly established schools to educate both boys and girls. In 1786, Friends Seminary was founded as Friends’ Institute through a $10,000 gift by Robert Murray, a New York merchant. As enrollment grew, the school moved to a larger campus on Elizabeth Street before its final 1860 move to its current location. In 1878, Friends Seminary was one of the first schools to establish a kindergarten.

As the school has grown over time, it has embraced modern efficiencies and realities, using technology integration and cutting-edge learning methods to prepare students for entry into the global world. Almost the entire campus has been either constructed or renovated in the last 15 years. A new Upper School building was opened in October 2019. Never forgetting the Quaker values that inspired its creation, Friends Seminary produces students who not only succeed in the world, but who strive to improve it.

CARNEYSANDOE.COM 3 THE SCHOOL

Today, Friends Seminary continues its commitment to a Quaker education that generates spirit-filled, motivated students across divisions. Located in the heart of New York City, the School enrolls students in three divisions: Lower, Middle, and Upper School. Friends Seminary students are a diverse, service- oriented group that pursues character development as much as intellectual achievement. Looking towards the future, the School’s current Strategic Plan will focus on strengthening the educational program, teaching practice, and student experience. Its goals are largely realized or are in process.

As an educational institution, the School’s mission is to prepare students to participate in an increasingly interdependent world and, by graduating an increasingly diverse group of students, to help build a more effective citizenry and representative leadership for the future. To this end, Friends Seminary’s Center for Peace, Equity & Justice, the school’s newest department, supports student and faculty development of the core values of equality, diversity, and community engagement, reflecting Quaker testimonies and their accompanying legacy of activism. The Center brings together academic, social, and cultural programs that contribute to wider movements for social change. By connecting theory to real-world practice, the Center stresses learning through action and equips students and faculty with global competencies that allow them to realize their human capacity to bring about the world that ought to be. Through its programs and course offerings, grounded in Quaker philosophy and practice, the Center seeks to connect ideas, resources, and people to advance social justice, build inclusive and sustainable communities, and foster lifelong commitments to public service. Recent Global Learning trips include India, Taiwan, Morocco, Colombia, and China, as well as a Civil Rights trip to Birmingham, Selma, Montgomery, and Atlanta.

CARNEYSANDOE.COM 4 UPPER SCHOOL ACADEMICS

The Friends Seminary Upper School is a supportive and encouraging environment that forms strong ethical and intellectual foundations for its students. A range of exciting, innovative departments capitalize upon students’ innate curiosity and teach them academic and character values that accompany them throughout their time at the School. Teachers and advisors strive to locate and honor the Inner Light in all students and to embolden each one to shoulder the increasing responsibilities associated with becoming independent.

Upper School at Friends requires critical thinking skills and reaches beyond the classroom walls to help students move toward realizing “a world that ought to be.” Students are expected to put their learning into action, whether that be through global education trips; community service projects; social justice initiatives; artistic, academic, and athletic performances; student publications; Peace Week; Day of Concern; or school-focused committee and governance work.

In the classrooms, students follow a highly integrated curriculum that applies theoretical principles to real-life situations. Upper School students engage in a rigorous program that includes challenging courses in computer science, English, history, mathematics, science, physical education, visual and performing arts, and world languages (students may choose from Spanish, French, Chinese, Arabic, and Latin). Each department is currently developing new selective advanced classes that allow teachers to cover material beyond the bounds of the traditional Advanced Placement program. Students in grades 11 and 12 may take online elective courses through Constellation Learning, a partnership of Independent Schools around the country and world.

Students in Upper School have several special learning opportunities to enhance their studies and explore academic interest and passions. The Senior Project allows qualified seniors to finish course requirements in early May in order to work full-time in an internship or supervised independent project. CARNEYSANDOE.COM 5 College Matriculation The following is a list of colleges and universities to which members of the Class of 2020 matriculated:

Amherst College Boston University Bowdoin College Brown University Case Western Reserve University University of Chicago Columbia/Tel Aviv University Dual Degree Cornell University Dartmouth College Davidson College Dickinson College Drexel University University of Edinburgh Emory University Hamilton College Since 1993, students in grades 11 and 12 have been able University of Illinois to enroll free of charge in courses at ’s Kenyon College College of Arts and Sciences. Students do not receive college Lafayette College credit, but receive a grade from their professor for inclusion McGill University in their Friends Seminary records. Almost yearly the School Middlebury College hears from the Dean that professors rave about Friends University of North Carolina, Seminary students. Finally, students in grades 11 and 12 can Chapel Hill choose to pursue independent study by creating a course in Northwestern University a particular area of interest, as long as it is approved by the Oberlin College Upper School Head. Pennsylvania State University Pitzer College The college counseling program is designed to empower Pomona College and support students as they make the transition to higher Rice University education or other post-graduate pursuits. Though college Rochester Institute of counseling at Friends Seminary is highly individualized, Technology there are also a number of group activities for students and Stanford University parents. The goal of the program is finding the best college Temple University match, the environment in which that particular student will thrive intellectually, personally, and socially. On average, Trinity College approximately 93% of graduates are accepted to one of Vanderbilt University their top three schools. Graduates enter the wider world University of Virginia compassionately independent, intellectually curious, ethically Wesleyan University resourceful, and globally aware. Williams College University of Wisconsin Yale University

CARNEYSANDOE.COM 6 ARTS AND ATHLETICS

A rich arts program is part of a Friends Seminary education. With offerings in music and drama, the Performing Arts Department seeks to enable students to experience and explore areas for self- expression and provides cultural and historical study in these areas, as well as experiential, practical, and theoretical background. Performance experiences are available and encouraged through a winter and a spring evening concert, a Jazz evening, and student recitals during the school day, plus the fall Upper School Drama production and spring Upper/Middle School musical. Students also have the opportunity to attend professional performances such concerts, operas, and theater productions. The School has a partnership with a nearby off-Broadway theater where the spring musical takes place.

The visual arts at Friends Seminary provides a place for students to explore and share their creative potential. Throughout the program, the curriculum celebrates this inner creativity by encouraging students to observe the visual world around them and by supporting them in expressing their vision with greater skill and discipline. Friends Seminary is committed to providing a rich program in traditional studio arts and in 21st century new media. All students are encouraged to take advantage of offerings in a diversity of media as they discover their own inner voices and their craft as thinkers and makers. Most courses can be taken at increasingly advanced levels. Art teachers all continue their professional work as artists.

The highly successful athletic program at Friends Seminary teaches the value of teamwork and sportsmanship in addition to traditional hard work, commitment, and perseverance. Students are encouraged to pursue personal goals through cooperative effort and in pursuit of a common objective. In Upper School, there are two junior varsity and 14 varsity teams that include baseball, basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track, winter track (indoor), and volleyball. Friends is a member of the Athletic Association of Independent Schools (AAIS-girls); Athletic Conference of Independent Schools (ACIS-boys); and Private School Athletic Association (PSSA-boys). In recent years, Friends has won state championships in both boys varsity soccer and basketball.

CARNEYSANDOE.COM 7 SERVICE LEARNING

Service learning at Friends aims to foster a student’s sense of purpose outside of oneself—a practice grounded in the School’s Quaker testimonies. Using a social justice approach that incorporates ethical, social, and environmental values into the curriculum, students are encouraged to use their head, heart, and hands to help bring about a world that ought to be. In the Upper School, there are 11 academic courses that include a component of service learning. Currently, students enrolled in these courses are eligible to earn credit toward their annual service requirement. In Upper School, the student Service Committee organizes monthly volunteer opportunities for their peers. Internships and individual placements through the Dean of Co-Curricular Programs and Service Coordinator are also available. Each year, students log a minimum of 25 hours of service, whether through academic coursework, after- school volunteerism, or through summer internships. In 2019-2020, Upper School students collectively logged more than 7,500 volunteer hours.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK

Friends Seminary’s enviable location near New York’s Union Square provides easy access to a full range of recreational and educational resources in the heart of New York’s bustling metropolis and makes travel to and from the School quite accessible. The city contains some of the most famous museums in the world, including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, the Frick Collection, the Jewish Museum of New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA), the Guggenheim Museum, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among several others.

CARNEYSANDOE.COM 8 The broader city of New York truly offers something for all residents with every type of interest. New York is home to some of the best entertainment venues in the country, including Broadway theaters, music halls, and sports stadiums. With every type of culture represented in its expansive boroughs, New York truly is an American melting pot. As the most populous city in the , New York is a global power city with significant influence in nearly every sector, from finance to the arts. Residents may select from five different boroughs in which to live: The Bronx, Brooklyn, , Queens, or Staten Island, each of which has a distinct identity, and all of which combine to form a proud, cohesive city.

New York’s Times Square is appropriately dubbed “The Crossroads of the World” and is home to the Broadway theater district and the iconic New Year’s Eve ball drop. Wall Street in Lower Manhattan is the home of the New York Stock Exchange, the largest stock exchange in the world. Additionally, several distinguished colleges and universities dot New York’s landscape, including Columbia University, New York University, and several schools of design, among others.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

The Upper School at Friends Seminary is a vibrant, stimulating environment for students and adults. The School is resource rich, the faculty highly accomplished, the parent body extremely supportive, and the students as bright, engaged, and engaging as you will find anywhere. With a distinguished legacy dating back to 1786, all of the key elements of the best in secondary education exist in abundance. Leading such a strong division brings with it its share of opportunities and challenges. Friends Seminary’s next Upper School Head will be called upon to:

• Lead the faculty in exploring how a restorative justice model might enhance a rather traditional disciplinary system.

CARNEYSANDOE.COM 9 • Reexamine and strengthen the advising program. • Demonstrate the skill to guide decision making in a complex, challenging environment by bringing a gentle but direct touch to strengthening a constructive relationship with a unionized faculty in a Quaker school, an unusual but typically amicable situation that is largely managed by the Head of School. • Lead the move away from traditional Advanced Placement classes that will be equally rich in challenge but less constrained by the limits of the AP program. • Realign faculty testing and grading practices that are more consistent with the School’s mission and advance conversations concerning on-line grading and gradebooks. • Advance the School’s efforts to attract and retain more faculty of color. • Take full advantage of a relatively new divisional administrative structure that includes a Dean of Student Life and Assistant Head of Upper School. • Guide the students and faculty to a return to a post-COVID re-entry, after a considerable period when regular day-to-day instruction and interpersonal relationships have looked quite different.

DESIRED QUALITIES AND QUALIFICATIONS

The new Upper School Head will possess a significant track record of successful secondary school leadership in schools that pose similarly high demands. More specifically, she/he/they will:

• Be a charismatic leader who demonstrates self-confidence, approachability, unquestioned integrity, and a powerful vision of secondary education. • Believe in the importance of listening and meaningful collaboration but also be able to pull the trigger and make decisions to move the agenda forward. • Possess a powerful intellect, disarming charm, and a profound strength of purpose and conviction.

CARNEYSANDOE.COM 10 • Welcome the active involvement of an interested, supportive parent body and the personal fortitude to establish appropriate limits and boundaries when necessary. • Have considerable experience as a highly successful classroom teacher of older students. • Relish engaging on a personal level with students, being highly visible in their classrooms, at their activities, and in all aspects of their daily school lives. • Write and speak in a manner that is jargon free and reflects the very best of the School and division. • Be warm, friendly, and highly relational but willing and unafraid to hold others to high expectations. • Show evidence of a personal and unwavering commitment to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

TO APPLY

Interested and qualified candidates are encouraged to speak with the consultant in confidence. All applicants will be expected to ultimately submit (preferably in separate PDFs) the following materials:

• A cover letter expressing interest in this particular position; • A current and comprehensive résumé; • A statement of educational philosophy and leadership practice targeted to the education of older students; • A list of five professional references with name, relationship, phone number, and email address of each (references will not be contacted without the candidate’s permission) to:

Dr. Bruce L. Dennis Senior Consultant [email protected]

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