Head of School
Retirement & Transition

February 6, 2024

Dear Peddie Friends and Family,

I write to tell you that I will be retiring from Peddie on June 30, 2025. Respecting the search process timeline, Board Chair Doug Davidson and I agreed that sharing the news now puts the Board of Trustees in a good position for a robust search for Peddie’s next head of school, whose tenure will begin July 1, 2025.

It will be a good time for the Quinns and for Peddie to make this change. I will leave with profound gratitude that is difficult to express. I have been lucky to enjoy 22 years at this remarkable school, and my wife Maryanne has shared that opportunity with me for 20 of those 22 years. I’d like to take on some activities, travel, and have lots of time with Maryanne and our children. We plan to move back to Virginia where we have family.

I have been lucky to hold several different roles at Peddie since first moving into little Longstreet in late August of 1985. In this, my last role, I had phenomenal support from and partnership with three board chairs, which is in and of itself is a remarkable testament to the Peddie community. It has been a joy and privilege to work over the years with faculty and staff to continue “beginning anew.” In addition, having parent and alumni communities as vibrant and committed as we do has been a gift.

Peddie, never short of ideas for its own improvement, has completed several innovative curricular, student life, and capital projects since 2013. Some of these found support in the One Peddie campaign which so many of you supported. Other improvements, physical and programmatic alike, sprang from the minds and gifts of Peddie leaders in their normally extraordinary service to what former Head Roger Swetland called “the Greater Peddie.”

The Board of Trustees and senior leadership have just completed — on the heels of that campaign — an extended and thorough review of our four Strategic Priorities. We have solicited input from faculty and staff, and chosen our most important objectives under those priorities for the next several years. The next head of school will have the opportunity to pursue those as she or he sees fit with the support of an extraordinary board, faculty, and staff.

In the head of school’s office is a collection of issues of the Old Gold and Blue from 1903 to 2023, telling the story of Peddie through the decades. While each yearbook marks the themes of that year, and the contributions of the students and adults whose voices reverberate in so many ways here, they also carry the theme of the school’s motto. One year, early in the 20th century, features these thoughts from the editors: These are only a few items on the program [for the future], but they suffice to show what a future lies before the school. What will our next stride be? That — that restless, optimistic, youthful spirit — has always been a defining attitude at Peddie.

The next 16 months will see that habit continue. Finishing the fitness center renovation and expansion, continuing to develop the structure around our emphasis on citizenship, enrolling the next two incoming classes, and recruiting the most committed faculty and staff — these will be my focus.

Ala Viva!

Gratefully,

Peter A. Quinn
Head of School