Dear Members of the Morristown-Beard School Community,
I write to you today to share the exciting news that the Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to appoint Elizabeth "Liz" Morrison as the next Head of the Morristown-Beard School, effective July 1, 2021, on the retirement of Peter Caldwell in June 2021. Liz will be the first woman to serve as Head of School for Morristown-Beard School since the Morristown School and the Beard School merged in 1971. She joins the ranks of only a handful of other women in the state serving in the position.
Liz comes to MBS from Antilles School, an independent, coeducational college preparatory school in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, where she has served as Head of School since 2016. She brings more than three decades of experience in independent school education, having served as Assistant Head of School at the Millbrook School in Millbrook, New York before joining Antilles School.
Liz's appointment comes as a result of a thorough and inclusive process conducted by the Search Committee, under the leadership of Trustee Paul Hawkins '85, 'P18, 'P20, and in conjunction with the experienced educational search firm, Carney Sandoe & Associates. The Search Committee was comprised of trustees, faculty and administration members working collaboratively to evaluate and select our next Head of School. Liz was selected from a national pool of highly qualified and talented candidates of diverse racial and gender backgrounds after a thorough search process that engaged students, parents, alumni, faculty, staff, and trustees. My deep thanks to the Search Committee and the entire MBS community for their efforts to find our new Head of School.
When we began the search process, we sought to find a new Head of School who not only understood and embraced who we are, but would be instrumental and effective in leading the School to new heights. Armed with those charges, our Search Committee received dozens of qualified applications from across the country and vetted each of them. Yet, one stood out from the rest. After conversations and Zoom meetings with faculty, students, alumni, and parents, every constituency came back with the same report — Liz Morrison should be our next Head of School.
We are thrilled that Liz accepted our invitation. She was chosen for her all-encompassing experience in education, her passion for teaching and learning, and especially for her ability to connect with students and earn the respect of faculty, and her commitment to diversity and inclusion. With a student population at Antilles School that is almost 50 percent students of color, Liz has grown in her understanding of the complexity of race in independent schools, and she is striving to create a curriculum and community where all students feel a deep sense of belonging. It's clear that she understands the important role that the Head of School plays in shaping school culture. Liz was drawn to Antilles by its deep commitment to balance — values that date to the school's founding in 1950. At the same time, she has worked to shape the culture and school policies to support greater dynamism and experimentation.
Leading a school on a small island has meant connecting the school with the larger St. Thomas community — a task Liz has enjoyed — and she has been critical to Antilles' fund-raising success. Many of the school's major donors have no ties to the school but value it as an essential community resource. In addition to leading the transition to remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, she also successfully navigated two back-to-back Category 5 hurricanes at the school in 2017.
The MBS Board of Trustees was impressed by the breadth of her credentials as an educator and administrator. At the Millbrook School, she held positions as Dean of Students, Academic Dean, and Director of College Counseling. Earlier in her career, Liz served as a math teacher and Chair of the Math Department at Oakwood Friends. More recently, Liz was inducted into the Headmasters Association, a highly prestigious association of only 100 members.
A graduate of The Bryn Mawr School, Liz holds a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from the University of Maryland and a Master of Science in Education from the University of Pennsylvania. Throughout the search process, Liz's supervisors and colleagues were uniform in their praise for her professionalism, work ethic, communications, and team-building skills, along with her business and curriculum development acumen.
On a more personal level, Liz grew up in Baltimore, Maryland; she was a proud member of the 1986 University of Maryland NCAA Division 1 National Champion Women's Lacrosse team; has a son and daughter in their twenties, along with two adult stepchildren; her husband Tom is a corporate pilot; and she plans to reside in New Jersey near MBS.
We are very eager to welcome Liz and her family to campus next summer. We plan to work with Liz and Peter Caldwell to ensure a successful transition and onboarding of Liz to MBS. This process will be managed by a Transition Committee Co-Chaired by Trustees Scott Tannen '95, P '22, P '25, P '25, and Lissa Ferrell P '22 and which will include members of faculty and administration to support Liz as she joins our community. Over the coming months you will learn more about Liz's onboarding process as she meets and learns more about our community.
I am confident that under Liz's leadership, Morristown-Beard School will attain new heights, our horizons will continue to expand, and our students will continue to flourish.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, and every constituent, please join me in welcoming Liz Morrison to Morristown-Beard School and to wish her unprecedented success!
With warmest regards,
John F. Fay P '11, P '14, P '20
President, Board of Trustees
We hope you are enjoying your well-deserved summer holiday during this most unusual
year. Our Head of School search process has been steadily moving forward and we
are pleased to provide an exciting update on our progress to date.
Over the past several months, the Search Committee, in partnership with our
consultants from Carney Sandoe & Associates (CS&A), has seen an exceptionally
strong and diverse pool of talented candidates with an impressive breadth of leadership
experience from all over the country.
After reviewing nineteen candidate dossiers, the Search Committee selected a group of
seven “semifinalists” who were invited to interview with the entire Search Committee.
The Committee prepared diligently for the interviews allowing for a careful comparison
of each candidate’s strengths and weaknesses as they relate to the School's student-centric educational and curricular approach as well as our culture and values, including diversity, equity and inclusion. Remarkably, only one semifinalist was unable to meet
committee members in-person due to COVID travel restrictions. Zoom video
conferences have been used as a substitute for an in-person interview in this instance,
and Zoom has been used to augment the process to ensure meaningful conversations
are happening between the Committee and semifinalists when not in-person.
It is the Committees’ objective to identify a short list of two or three “Finalists” each of
whom will visit campus for individual and group meetings with members of our senior
administration and trustees. Ideally, finalists will also have an opportunity to participate
in group meetings with students as well as forums with faculty/staff, alumni and parents.
The Search Committee thanks you for your survey feedback, input and ongoing support
during this exciting preface to Morristown-Beard School’s next chapter.
As communicated to the MBS community in December, following Peter Caldwell's decision to retire June 30th, 2021, the Head of School search process has been progressing well. The Search Committee, comprised of trustees, parents, alumni, faculty, and senior School administrators engaged search consultants Carney Sandoe & Associates earlier this year and together have undertaken an inclusive and transparent Head of School search process. Carney Sandoe has met with individuals and groups of faculty, senior School administrators, alumni, parents and, importantly, students. Many of these sessions were conducted via Zoom video conference due to present circumstances. This survey is a final step in a process that will help the search consultants gather input from all members of the MBS community and complete a picture of the qualities and abilities we seek in our next Head of School.
We value your feedback. Please take a moment to complete this survey https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MorristownBeardHOSSurvey by the end of the day on Thursday, June 4. Results will be sent directly to our consultant, Carney Sandoe & Associates, and will be kept anonymous.
Dear Members of the Morristown-Beard School Community,
We are pleased to announce that we have now assembled the full Search Committee that will assist the Board of Trustees in carrying out its responsibility to hire the next Head of School for MBS. In addition to Board President John Fay and me, the Search Committee now includes a diverse group of trustees, parents, alumni, and members of the administration and faculty.
Head of School Search Committee
Ravi Chopra ‘97 (Trustee, Alumnus)
Pam Nelson Davidson ‘90 (Trustee, Alumna)
John Fay (Board President, P ‘11, ‘14, ‘20 )
Shanae Green (Trustee, P ‘22)
Paul Hawkins ‘85 (Trustee, HOS Search Committee Chair, Alumnus, P ‘18, ‘20)
Gail Kurz ‘86 (Trustee, Alumna, P ‘17, ‘19)
Boni Luna (Head of Middle School)
Michael McGrann (Faculty, World Languages Chair)
Rob Mitchell (Director of Enrollment Management, P ‘15, ‘20, ‘23)
David Molowa (Trustee, Former Faculty, P ‘05)
Lee Kellogg Sadrian ‘89 (Trustee, Alumna, P ‘26)
Carisa Strauss (Trustee, P ‘20, ‘22, ‘24)
Lisa Swanson (Middle School Faculty, P ‘21)
Scott Tannen ‘95 (Trustee, Alumnus, P ‘22, ‘25, ‘25)
We believe this group of committed individuals represents the views of major MBS constituent groups and will bring invaluable individual experience and insights to this effort, while keeping the broad interests of Morristown-Beard School as a whole at heart. In addition to a deep understanding of our School’s history, culture and mission, this group possesses a diversity of skills to assist in the process of interviewing and evaluating candidates, as well as institutional knowledge and a shared passion for MBS. Please join us in thanking them in advance for their time and commitment to this important process.
Search Firm Selected
The Search Committee has unanimously voted to select Carney Sandoe & Associates as the School’s search firm to assist with the hiring of the new Head of School. Carney Sandoe & Associates (CSA) is recognized for its international and wide-ranging experience, and consultants Bob Fricker and Lisa Parsons bring a track record of successful searches. CSA has a proven commitment to letting each school’s unique culture set the tone for its search.
Community Input Forums
Meetings with parents, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni and students are being planned for April 7th & 8th and we will share the final schedule with you soon. These meetings will be an excellent opportunity for all constituent groups to voice their thoughts and ideas about MBS and our next Head of School. We cannot overemphasize how valuable your voice will be throughout these meetings and we encourage you to make every effort to participate!
Head of School Search Website Page
We have created a Head of School Search website page https://www.mbs.net/about/head-of-school-search where you will find recent postings, search committee information, a general search timeline, and FAQs. Once the Head of School Position Description is finalized it will be posted here as well. We will update the page as new information develops to keep you informed.
We want to reaffirm our commitment to make this process as inclusive and open as possible. As always, if you have questions or feedback, please email me at paulhawkins@mbs.net.
Thank you for your support and engagement in this important process.
Morristown-Beard School Head of School Peter J. Caldwell announced this week that he plans to retire at the end of the 2020-2021 academic year after having served for 10 years at MBS.
Download the letter from
Board President John Fay:
Download the letter from
Head of School Peter Caldwell:
Download the Retirement Announcement Information:
Head of School Peter J. Caldwell will be retiring in June of 2021 after leading MBS through 10 transformative years.
He and his wife Darcy, of the English Department, will be retiring to Providence, RI to be closer to their family.
Peter will continue to run the School actively, as he had, over the next 18 months.
As Head of School, Peter has transformed Morristown-Beard and led significant curricular and programmatic initiatives. The historic 5-year comprehensive campaign “Transforming Our Future - $20 Million By 2020” has resulted in the completion of extensive capital projects, including a 25,000 square foot Math & Science Center and an 8,000 square foot Center for Innovation & Design, and significant growth in the MB Fund, scholarship, and endowment. Important initiatives include:
Peter’s “Bench Talks” - monthly messages of life lessons he uses to lead by example.
The development of three centers, The Center for Teaching & Learning, The Center for Academic Writing, and The Center for Innovation & Design, all of which are learning hubs that focus on cross collaboration across all disciplines among teachers and students.
An emphasis on balance that reverberated across the curriculum and impacted all curricular decisions.
The Board of Trustees has formed a search committee led by trustee, parent, and alumnus Paul Hawkins ’85.
The Committee will conduct a nationwide search for the next leader of Morristown-Beard.
The Committee is comprised of a majority of Trustees as well as Faculty and Administration members - members names will be communicated in the next several weeks.
The search process for the new Head of School will be inclusive of the Morristown-Beard community’s views and operate with transparency. To ensure such it will be supported by a Communications sub-committee and a Community Engagement sub-committee. These will be formed to include a broad group of community members over the next month and will solicit input from the community.
The first steps in this process are underway with a search firm selection process.
In keeping with our history of direct, honest, and straightforward communication, we will keep the community informed about the status of the search as it progresses and will have a page on our website dedicated to the new Head of School search.
We anticipate a well-planned and seamless transition when a new Head of School is hired. Peter Caldwell has given 18 months' notice and we have an excellent senior administration team in place who are committed to supporting the new Head. John Fay will continue to serve as Board President through the transition and the end of the 2022 School year.
Should there be any further questions, you may contact
Betsy Patterson, Director of Advancement, at 973-539-3032 x524 or bpatterson@mbs.net and she will pass these along to the Committee.
Head of School Search Committee
Paul Hawkins ‘85 (Trustee, HOS Search Committee Chair, Alumnus, P ‘18, ‘20; Email: paulhawkins@mbs.net)
Ravi Chopra ‘97 (Trustee, Alumnus)
Pam Nelson Davidson ‘90 (Trustee, Alumna)
John Fay (Board President, P ‘11, ‘14, ‘20 )
Shanae Green (Trustee, P ‘22)
Gail Kurz ‘86 (Trustee, Alumna, P ‘17, ‘19)
Boni Luna (Head of Middle School)
Michael McGrann (Faculty, World Languages Chair)
Rob Mitchell (Director of Enrollment Management, P ‘15, ‘20, ‘23)
David Molowa (Trustee, Former Faculty, P ‘05)
Lee Kellogg Sadrian ‘89 (Trustee, Alumna, P ‘26)
Carisa Strauss (Trustee, P ‘20, ‘22, ‘24)
Lisa Swanson (Middle School Faculty, P ‘21)
Scott Tannen ‘95 (Trustee, Alumnus, P ‘22, ‘25, ‘25)
Head of School Search Timeline
Although the COVID-19 pandemic has changed how our search consultants have conducted their meetings and forums with members of the MBS community, the search process for a new Head-of-School continues to move forward and on schedule with the help of Zoom.
February 2020
Announcement of Peter Caldwell's retirement
Head of School Search Committee Chair Paul Hawkins '85 (Trustee, Alumnus, P '18, '20) announced
March 2020
Search Committee Members introduced
Carney Sandoe announced as search firm to assist with HOS selection
April 2020
Carney Sandoe & Associates search consultants, Bob Fricker and Lisa Parsons, held meetings and forums with School administrators, faculty, students, and current parents.
May 2020
Carney Sandoe search consultants met with the Alumni Board.
A Head-of-School Search Survey will be sent to the entire MBS community for their input.
May-July 2020
Carney Sandoe conducts preliminary candidate outreach and screening.