Hawken appoints Upper School Director

After a nationwide search that yielded \"exceptional candidates,\" Head of School Scott Looney announced that J. Ross Peters has been selected as Hawken`s new Upper School Director. Peters is currently the Assistant Head for Academic Affairs at Asheville School, a day and boarding school in Asheville, North Carolina. He has a Bachelor`s in English from Sewanee, the University of the South, in Tennessee and a Master`s in English Education from the University of Georgia. At Asheville, Peters has served as the Dean of Faculty, Humanities Chair, English Department Chair, Honor Council Faculty Chair, as a tennis and track coach, as a mountaineering instructor and on a variety of school committees. Before Asheville, he was an English teacher and a lacrosse, tennis and cross-country coach at Providence Day School in Charlotte, North Carolina. \"At the heart of my vision of an ideal school is the belief that high expectations and nurture must go hand in hand in order to serve successfully the students that fill our classrooms,\" Peters said in a letter to Associate Head of School Monique DeVane, chair of the Upper School Director Search Committee. \"I believe that the best educators reveal their commitment to students not only through a thousand and one warm interactions with young people each day, but also through high expectations for each student`s positive engagement in the school community and for each student`s dedication to achievement.\" As Upper School Director, Peters will report directly to Scott Looney and will be a member of the senior leadership team. He will oversee the daily operation of the Upper School and serve as the immediate supervisor of the Academic Dean, the Class Deans, the College Counselor, the Academic Department Heads, the Athletic Director, the School Nurse, the Upper School Librarian and the support staff. \"Ross has a rare combination of empathy, passion for teaching, good humor, common sense and a strong will for excellence in all things,\" said Looney. \"He will hold our students and faculty to high standards, but he will also provide the kind of support, caring and attention that they deserve.\" The Hawken community is pleased to welcome J. Ross Peters, his wife Katie, who holds a Ph.D. in Religion from Emory University, and their three-year-old daughter Eleanor. Special thanks goes to Associate Head of School Monique DeVane and the members of the search committee: Randy Dlugosz, David Gillespie, Bonnie Gwin, Michelle Harris, Michael Heeter, Vicki Koeblitz, George Long, Hugh McKay, Hank Skladanowski, Bill Waskowitz and Steve Weiskopf.