To view the press release, please click here.

Dear FSA Families and Community,

As you are hopefully aware, the Board of Trustees Search Committee is working to find a new Head of School since Waman French is retiring.  While none of us can really imagine FSA without him, we are also excited about the opportunities this provides. We had a fantastic pool of semi-finalists and after interviews, we’re inviting the three finalists to school starting next week. The finalist candidates are all amazing women with tons of experience, and we’re thrilled to meet them in person.  We want to encourage everyone who is part of this community to meet the candidates as we embark together on this transition.

You and your family are an important part of what makes FSA the community that we all love and value so much.  We hope that you will come meet all the finalists (either in person or virtually) and please give us your feedback.  There will be a survey to collect feedback and we really really want to hear from you!

Candidate names and bios will be announced 24 hours before they arrive.  Below are the times available for parents, grandparents, community members, etc… to meet the candidates.

Candidate #1:

Monday, September 19:
4:45 pm – 5:45 pm – Parents/Community Meeting in CMR (Zoom available, see link below)

Tuesday, September 20:
7:45 am – 8:45 am – Parents/Community Meeting in Lunchroom (Zoom available, see link below)

Candidate #2:

Thursday, September 22:
4:45 pm – 5:45 pm – Parents/Community Meeting in CMR (Zoom available, see link below)

Friday, September 23:
7:45 am – 8:30 am – Parents/Community Meeting in Lunchroom (Zoom available, see link below)

Candidate #3:
Thursday, September 29:
4:45 pm – 5:45 pm – Parents/Community Meeting in CMR (Zoom available, see link below)

Friday, September 30:
7:45 am – 8:30 am – Parents/Community Meeting in Lunchroom (Zoom available, see link below)

If you choose to join these meetings via zoom, please use this link and password:  https://friendsschoolatlanta.zoom.us/j/4250007807 and the password is 6spices

Thank you all for the time and consideration that we know you will put into meeting these candidates.  While it can be bittersweet to imagine the future of FSA without Waman, I am excited for what the next chapter can be because of how amazing our community is together.

In the Light,
Hannah MacNorlin and Amber Amari, Search Committee Co-clerks

Dear Members of The Friends School of Atlanta Community,

As you know, in February, Waman French announced his decision to retire as Head of School at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. As Co-Clerks of the Search Committee appointed by the Board of Trustees to help identify Waman’s successor, we extend our sincerest gratitude to Waman for his 31 years of service and extraordinary leadership as founding Head.

The Search Committee and the team at Carney Sandoe and Associates have identified candidates and are deep into the interview process for the next Head of School. We are excited about the diversity of our applicant pool and believe our esteemed reputation as a model for diversity and inclusion has positioned us to attract an exceptional array of candidates interested in this exciting leadership opportunity.

The next steps involve inviting final candidates to campus for in-person interviews in September. Along the way, we will gather community feedback. It will be the responsibility of the committee to screen and evaluate candidates, in addition to making a recommendation to the full Board of Trustees, which will make the final decision on the next Head of School. Our current expectation is that the Board hopes to appoint a new Head of School in October, but at the very latest, end of the current calendar year, allowing ample time for a thoughtful and comprehensive transition.

The members of the Search Committee reflect a broad spectrum of The Friends School of Atlanta community and were selected based on their deep understanding of and commitment to the School. Its members include:

Amber Amari, Trustee, Co-Clerk, Search Committee (Parent ‘26)
Joyce E. Davis, Trustee (Parent ‘20)
Jennifer Dickie, Trustee
Herb Edwards, Trustee
Maggie Hasbrouck, Trustee (Parent ‘12)
Hamilton Jenkins, Trustee (Class of 2010)
Juan Jewell, Trustee
Hannah MacNorlin, Trustee, Co-Clerk, Search Committee (Parent ‘28)
Jim Maxson, Trustee (Parent ‘18, ‘21)
Pat Michaelson, Founding Trustee
Sara Patenaude, Trustee (Parent ‘29)

In peace,
Amber Amari and Hannah MacNorlin
Co-Clerks, Search Committee

Dear friends,

As this school year comes to a close we remain grateful for this community that has grounded our children and families through the joys and challenges of the past year. Today we especially hold in the Light all who are grieving.

We are also looking to the future and want to update you on the search for our next head of school. Thank you to all the members of our community who took the time to respond to the online survey. We were delighted with how many of you responded. The major takeaways from that survey show:

• Our small class sizes and teacher/student ratio are highly valued.
• Our dedication to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is deeply appreciated.
• Recruiting and retaining excellent faculty is a top priority.
• It is highly desired that our next head of school has had significant leadership experience in an independent school, preferably in a Quaker school.
• It is essential that our next head be accessible and approachable.

We have completed the head of school position statement (can be found here.) This document serves as a primary tool in the recruitment process, offering potential candidates a glimpse into our school community and culture. Marsha and Bob from Carney Sandoe used your input from the community survey and their on-campus interviews to shape the content of the position statement. The final product reflects the strong consensus that Friends School is a dynamic, thriving school, committed to inspiring academics, retaining skilled and passionate teachers, and creating a diverse and inclusive learning environment formed by Quaker values. In their recruitment of candidates, Bob and Marsha are looking for individuals who possess those characteristics we seek in our next head of school.

With this first phase completed, our next phase of active outreach and recruitment is underway. Over the coming months, our consultants will be working diligently to attract and assess interested and qualified candidates from a broad range of sources in the independent school universe. The consultants and search committee will review candidate application materials and invite the most promising candidates to in-person interviews later in the fall. We will communicate about the timing of the next steps when we return to school later in the summer.

As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for the search committee, we invite you to reach out via email at­­­­­­­­­ [email protected] and [email protected].

Search Committee Co-Clerks
Amber Amari
Hannah MacNorlin

Search Committee Members
Joyce Davis
Jennifer Dickie
Maggie Hasbrouck
Hamilton Jenkins
Juan Jewell
Jim Maxson
Pat Michaelson
Sara Patenaude

Many of you had an opportunity to meet with Bob Vitalo and Marsha Little from the search firm Carney Sandoe when they visited campus in April. Thank you for the time you spent during their visit sharing your insights and affection for The Friends School of Atlanta. Our community is one of FSA’s greatest strengths, and we want to begin this process with input from as many members of our community as possible. If you haven’t already done so, we invite you to participate through our online survey, which will remain open until 4:00pm on Friday, May 13. Your input will prove most helpful as the Board works with the consultants, interviews candidates and ultimately determines who will lead our school forward after Waman leaves at the end of June, 2023. Thank you!

Dear Friends School of Atlanta community,

As we embark on this search for a new Head of School, we want to keep you updated and informed about the upcoming process. The Board of Trustees has selected Carney, Sandoe & Associates, the largest nationally recognized educational search firm, to work with the Search Committee. Carney Sandoe brings a deep knowledge of independent schools from over 40 years of experience placing school leaders, administrators and educators as well as significant recent experience with Friends schools, including for Heads of School at three other Friends Schools over the past year.

Bob Vitalo and Marsha Little will serve as our consultants. Bob leads Carney Sandoe’s Search and Consulting practice. Before joining Carney Sandoe, he served for 34 years as a Head of School at three different schools. While at Media-Providence Friends School, Bob served on the Executive Committee of Friends Council and was a faculty member for the Council’s workshops on new Heads of Friends schools. Marsha joined Carney Sandoe after two decades in independent school administration, most recently as Assistant Head of School at The Lovett School in Atlanta. Before that, she worked in college admissions at Washington University in St. Louis and Vanderbilt University.

Many of you had an opportunity to meet with Bob and Marsha when they visited campus earlier this month. Thank you for the time you spent during their visit sharing your insights and affection for The Friends School of Atlanta. Our community is one of FSA’s greatest strengths, and we want to begin this process with input from as many members of our community as possible. We invite you to participate through our online survey, which will remain open until 4:00pm on Friday, May 13. Based on their site visit and a series of conversations with trustees, the Carney Sandoe team will craft a position description to share with potential candidates. The survey results will further inform Bob and Marsha’s conversations with candidates.

The Board of Trustees has assembled a Search Committee whose members will work closely with Bob and Marsha throughout this process and whose diverse areas of experience will serve us well. The Search Committee will participate in an implicit bias training provided by Carney Sandoe before we meet with any potential candidates. It will be the responsibility of the Search Committee to screen, evaluate candidates and make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees, which will make a final decision on the successful candidate. Our expectation is that this process will lead to an announcement of our next Head of School in the Fall of 2022. We are grateful to those who have agreed to serve as members of the Search Committee. Their names are listed below, and you can learn more about them on FSA’s website.

While we will endeavor to remain as communicative and transparent as possible, we recognize that we will also need to honor candidates’ confidentiality to ensure that we are able to recruit and interview the most talented leaders in the country. Additionally, we have been encouraged by our consultants and others to maintain a nimble and fluid approach in this search, given the extremely competitive landscape of leadership recruitment.

We look forward to providing updates as appropriate over the coming months. In the meantime, please feel free to be in touch with either of us if you have questions or other input. We are deeply grateful to the Search Committee and the entire FSA community for your ongoing support and enthusiasm as we navigate this transition.

Search Committee Co-Clerks
Amber Amari
Hannah MacNorlin

Search Committee Members
Hamilton Jenkins
Jennifer Dickie
Jim Maxson
Joyce Davis
Juan Jewell
Pat Michaelson
Sara Patenaude

Dear friends,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees for The Friends School of Atlanta (FSA), I wanted to reach out with a shared sense of gratitude (and just a little sadness) regarding the news of Waman’s planned retirement for July, 2023.

It is hard to imagine The Friends School of Atlanta without Waman at the helm, but I find it tremendously reassuring to know that Waman does not stand alone. He and the school community are supported by a Board of Trustees who are devoted stewards of the school’s resources and the community’s well being. Knowing this day would come sooner than we wanted, the Board has been engaged in succession planning through its Committee on Trustees for the past two years. This committee is also the group who will work to hire and coordinate with a professional search firm to help us find our next Head of School.

Happily, FSA will enjoy Waman’s leadership for one more school year while we seek his replacement. The year will be a time to celebrate all that Waman has accomplished on behalf of FSA. Waman is fond of saying he stands on the shoulders of giants – i.e., all those who have shared and nurtured the vision for our beloved school, including not just our trustees, faculty and staff, but also the hundreds of students and their families who have devoted their energies and hearts over 30 years to moving this school from its original two classrooms at the Atlanta Friends Meetinghouse to the thriving, growing educational presence it has become for the entire city. We will now stand on Waman’s shoulders as we all come together to guide The Friends School of Atlanta to its next level of achievement.

Please feel free to contact me or any of the Trustees if you have questions or concerns at this important moment in the history of The Friends School of Atlanta.

In peace,

Dear FSA family,

“What we are to be, we are now becoming,” is a personal motto that has been an inspiration to me throughout my life. I share news today about my retirement as Head of School at our beloved Friends School of Atlanta, effective July 1, 2023. What I am to be, and what our school is to be, we are just becoming, and I embrace this change for both the school and myself with that happy growth mindset.

For the past 30 years I have been honored to serve this Friends school community. I have taught just about every grade and subject and been given the greatest joy of nurturing students and their families through their educational journeys here at FSA. Our students and alums often share how their experience at FSA planted the seeds for their “becoming.” The teacher in us all will recognize my deep appreciation for being a part of the process that nurtures those seeds that grow into a passion for lifelong learning and the pursuit of dreams – both personal and those for humankind.

For over three decades it has been my honor to work with the most dedicated and accomplished faculty and staff. Friends school educators and administrators are a special breed. They bring not only tremendous skill and loving care to their work with children, but also a beautiful vision of what we are to be, a dream of a beloved community of teachers and learners. Words can’t describe what a pleasure it is to work side by side with these special people. They hold the potential of the future in their hands each day.

My father, a lifelong educator, used to remind me frequently that the quality of life for any school head is directly linked to the quality of their relationship to their Board of Trustees. In this regard, I have been truly blessed. I am profoundly grateful to the school’s trustees, past and present, for their unwavering trust and care throughout my tenure. Few can know the depth of support that heads of schools draw from this important group of unsung heroes. It was our first trustees who rolled up their sleeves and helped us launch this remarkable school. Past trustees were crucial in fundraising and organizing for three different moves! Our current and recent trustees have been so instrumental in helping us navigate a pandemic as well as create a succession plan that ensures a solid future for FSA. I thank each and every one for believing in me through the years, for offering their wise counsel and for loving this school into being.

In July, 2023, I will step aside for the next Head of School to lead this amazing community. My successor will inherit a mighty plenty of resources, both human and material, to continue shaping the destiny of Friends education in Atlanta. From my perspective, FSA is ready to grow and lead with conscience, conviction and compassion.

Thank you all in advance for your support of our school, its future and for what we are to become.

In peace,

Head of School