On July 1, 2024, Susanna Whitaker Waters joined the Fay community as its ninth Head of School. Prior to joining Fay, Susanna served as Associate Head of School for Academic Affairs at Brooks School in North Andover. She joined Brooks in 2009, and over her 15 years there, she served as a teacher, coach, advisor, residential life faculty member, history department chair, and Dean of Academic Affairs prior to her appointment as Associate Head of School in 2021. 

During her years at Brooks, Susanna spearheaded numerous program developments. She oversaw the implementation of the School’s competency-based education, restructured the academic affairs team to improve its effectiveness with students, and introduced the School’s All-Community Read. She served on Brooks’ Diversity Leadership Council, coordinated the Davis Fellows program, which supports young educators who are new to independent schools and who identify as a member of an under-represented population, and she taught a course on regional Native American history which led to Brooks’ land acknowledgement. 

Susanna won an award for outstanding contributions to the school early on in her time at Brooks, and she later held the Holcombe Faculty Chair, an endowed faculty chair for excellence in teaching and leadership that was voted on by her colleagues. Earlier this year, both Susanna and her husband Willie Waters (also a longtime educator, coach, and dorm parent at Brooks) received emeritus honors from Brooks in recognition of their significant contributions to the School. The Brooks Bulletin noted of Susanna that her “legacy will include increased collaboration across the academic and department chair teams; the prioritization of sustainability work across campus; a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the curriculum; and an expansion of the school’s elective offerings and signature programs, as well as the new computer science program.”

Susanna holds a master’s degree in education and a bachelor of arts degree from St. Lawrence University, in addition to a master’s degree in education in Private School Leadership from the Klingenstein Center, Teachers College, Columbia University. Prior to joining Brooks, she was a teacher and coach at Holderness School, and she began her career teaching seventh and eighth grade in New York public schools.

Susanna graduated from The Park School (a K-8 school) and Concord Academy.  She serves on the Board of Trustees at Park and was a trustee at The Village School, a private preschool in Boxford, MA. As a consultant for Phillips Academy Andover, she consulted on department and division learning competencies. 

Susanna and Willie, along with their children Ainsley, Callum, and Camilla, are now living on campus and are all deeply immersed in the life of the School already–Willie serves as Fay’s varsity A soccer coach and is assisting in Fay’s Advancement Office and as a long-term substitute in the Upper School History Department, while Ainsley and Cal are Fay students and Milly attends the Early Learning Center.

We sat down with Susanna this fall to learn more about her experience as an educator, her thoughts on leadership, and her goals for Fay.

 

 

Fay is everything I thought it would be and more!  I have been so inspired by the commitment and enthusiasm of our students, faculty and staff, alumni, and families who have chosen Fay for their children. All of our community members are so proud of Fay’s mission, core values, and tradition. I find that enthusiasm and commitment contagious!

 

I am intensely curious about people! I love getting to know other human beings from around the world and learning about their walks of life and what they’re passionate about. I love the diversity that Fay School offers, and having the opportunity to travel the world on behalf of Fay brings me true joy.

I’m also passionate about building community. I have spent my entire career working in boarding school settings, and it is so rewarding to be part of the fabric of daily life here at Fay. I love taking every opportunity to connect with our students, during and after the school day. Attending concerts, being on the sidelines at games, having the kids over to our house for cookies, crafts and board games–all of these things bring me so much happiness. And my own children are equally excited to be in the mix: tonight, for example, the Village Boys eighth graders are coming over for cookies and conversation! I feel so fortunate to call this place home.

I would also want the Fay community to know that I’m a lifelong learner. I became a history teacher because I loved learning, and it has been inspiring to learn alongside my colleagues and students every day. In my new role, this remains true, and I am enjoying the variety that each day brings as Head of School.

 

I was raised by a teacher and also married into a family of educators. My life has been immersed in schools, and I love everything about school life and the practice of teaching and learning. 

I believe one of my strengths as an administrator is having a deep empathy for the student experience. Having lived it, and with some subjects coming more easily than others, I am no stranger to navigating challenges in the classroom. I really appreciated the support of key adults, like my high school advisor, whose unwavering confidence in me made all the difference. As a result, I appreciate how important it is for us to create safe environments for young people to find out who they are—to take on new challenges, try on different identities, and figure out who they want to be. We want our students to excel, to put forth their best effort, and to be who they are. I have always loved school and found it to be a joyful experience—I want to make the experience of learning joyful for our students, too.

I believe that empathy and compassion are critical to good leadership. I have been part of school communities not just as a student, but as a teacher, coach, dorm parent, advisor, administrator, and parent. I appreciate being able to understand a range of different perspectives.

 

My approach to leadership is team oriented and collaborative, focusing on the benefits that come from working collectively towards a common goal. This may be in part because I am by nature a community-oriented person and have played a lot of team sports over the years. I tend to believe that the smartest person in the room IS the room: it’s important to hear a range of opinions, even dissenting ones, in order to inform a direction forward that is thoughtful and intentional.

 

This year, I am excited to get to know the Fay community and to more deeply understand our school culture and values. As Head of School, I am happily charged with being the chief storyteller: I have the privilege of spreading the word about the amazing program and opportunities that exist here. In that spirit, I want to collect stories and get to know the people who make Fay such a special place, and to amplify Fay’s strengths to a larger audience.

One way I’m doing this is by scheduling a one-on-one meeting with every faculty and staff member at Fay. It may take all year, but I’m committed to this project and to learning more about the individuals who make our school run so successfully.

I am eager to build on the momentum of Fay’s current strategic plan, with a special focus on envisioning what environmental sustainability can look like at Fay. Another aspect of the strategic plan that is a top priority for me is continuing to build our connections with alumni, past parents and guardians, and friends of Fay who have been affiliated with the School over the years.

I’m committed to continuing Fay’s work on diversity, equity, and inclusion, focusing on the many types of diversity reflected in the Fay community. In support of this important work and our strategic plan, I look forward to exploring ways we might grow Fay’s financial aid budget to ensure that students from a range of backgrounds and experiences can benefit from a Fay education. And I look forward to collaborating with the Board in our ongoing work to make prudent, intentional financial decisions that will ensure the quality of our students’ experience, now and in the future.

SPEED ROUND