Friends Academy is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Benjamin Kennedy as Friends Academy’s new Head of School, beginning July 1, 2017. Kennedy’s dedication to students and his expertise in academic innovation, faculty development, and secondary school placement are qualities that will suit him well at Friends Academy.  Kennedy is just the sort of reflective thinker who will continue to direct the school’s unique strengths in areas including cross-curricular learning, experiential and outdoor education, and responsible citizenship. Kennedy notes, “We must celebrate, support, and appropriately challenge each child. We must also help the class as a whole to understand their combined power and capacity. When every member of a group feels safe, valued, and integral to the success of the whole, the whole is indeed more than the sum of its parts.” It is just this educational philosophy that makes Kennedy such an ideal fit for Friends Academy.

As the son of a headmaster and teacher, Kennedy grew up on independent school campuses. He has spent the majority of his professional career in independent schools as a teacher, coach, and administrator. Ben earned his undergraduate at Dartmouth College and his graduate degree at Wesleyan University. After spending seven years as part of the administration of St. Andrew’s School, in Middletown, DE, Ben came to Shore Country Day School in Beverly, MA as its Head of Upper School in 2009.

At Shore, Kennedy was instrumental in pulling together a strategic plan that included advancements in the curriculum, teaching program, communications, and its early childhood programs. Last year, as part of his professional agenda to learn the best teaching ideas from schools nationwide, Kennedy visited Friends Academy to learn more about its Sally Borden Program and its curriculum for students with language-based differences. He came away deeply impressed, and it was no surprise that he found himself back at Friends Academy a year later as a candidate to replace retiring head of school Steven Barker.

Mr. Kennedy and his wife Christina have three young children and plan to move to the south coast when Ben officially assumes his new responsibilities at Friends this July.