Search for the Associate Head of School

The Peddie School

Hightstown, New Jersey

The Peddie School (Peddie), a storied institution that prides itself on delivering a transformational and accessible education, seeks a creative, collaborative, and community-minded leader to serve as its next Associate Head of School. This leader will serve as second-in-command for Jim Hamilton, Head of School, who began his tenure on July 1, 2025. They will succeed Catherine Rodrigue, a long-serving and highly respected member of the Peddie community, as she retires. This is a rare opportunity to honor the great work of a well-regarded and stable institution, while also driving current and future academic innovation.

In 1993, a historic $100 million gift from Walter H. Annenberg ’27 changed the trajectory of Peddie, and the impact of Annenberg’s generosity continues to resonate through the physical footprint of campus and the broad racial, ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic representation among the student population. The school has built on Ambassador Annenberg’s gift with the recent closing of the One Peddie capital campaign, the largest in the school’s history, raising over $100 million for financial aid, faculty, athletics, and the arts. Today, Peddie’s preeminent faculty (just over 90 in total) serves approximately 540 students in a co-ed boarding and day environment, with 60 percent of students living on campus and 40 percent attending as day students. The student body, comprising grades 9-12, plus a small number of post-graduates, hails from 19 U.S. states and 21 countries. 52 percent identify as students of color, and 18 percent hold citizenship outside of the United States.

The Associate Head is primarily responsible for academic life and partners on a variety of cross-functional, strategic initiatives to ensure an integrated educational experience for students and a rewarding professional path for members of the faculty. The successful candidate will complement the Head of School by providing a deep understanding of academic programming and pedagogy, building on the momentum of a creative and flexible academic program. Peddie has benefited from strong and stable leadership in recent history, with an average tenure of 12 years for its last three Heads of School, and nearly 25 years under the current Associate Head. This consistency has allowed Peddie to make innovative financial and programmatic decisions that have enhanced its academic program. The new Associate Head must capitalize on the exciting momentum of a new Head while inspiring trust and confidence in the face of cultural change. While Peddie has evolved over the course of its 160-year existence, its warmth and culture of care have remained steadfast and must continue to do so under this leader.

The successful candidate will be comfortable setting strategy as well as operationalizing it. They will be an inspiring leader with intellectual gravitas, a clear and inclusive communication style, and a measured decisiveness. They must also hold a strong commitment to the transformative potential of the boarding school experience. In particular, the next Associate Head will make clear Peddie’s distinctive academic identity; leverage the interplay between academics and life outside the classroom; continue to advance access, inclusion, and belonging for students and adults; recruit, retain, and support excellent faculty, while demonstrating care for the adult population; further Peddie’s commitment to teaching excellence and professional development; serve as a trusted partner and advisor for the Head of School, senior leadership, and trustees; and support, develop, and empower a high-performing team of academic leaders. 

The Peddie School has retained Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm, to assist in the recruitment of its next Associate Head of School. Please direct all inquiries, nominations, and applications to the search firm:

Katie Rockman, Partner

Berkley Braden, Managing Associate

Maria Connor, Managing Search Coordinator

Isaacson, Miller

https://www.imsearch.com/open-searches/peddie-school/associate-head-school

The Peddie School is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law.