As I reflect on my time at Holderness, I find myself constantly thinking about the amazing people of this little school in New Hampshire's White Mountains.
I am deeply thankful for the remarkable students, employees, and alumni I have known who fully embrace the motto, mission, and vision of this school that “strives to develop the people the world needs most.”
To be at Holderness is to be intellectually passionate and curious. to be other-centered, to be active and connected to the outdoors, to be creative and conscious of the power of imagination, and to be aware of the spiritual dimensions that guide our experience.
Togetherness makes Holderness possible. Together, we are able to nurture and sustain a community that at its core remains kind and other-centered in a world with a glaring empathy deficit. Whether it’s singing together in Assembly, cheering together on the sidelines, supporting one another on Out Back, or eating together at family-style dinner, the experience of Holderness is made stronger by togetherness.
Holderness is more than a school; it is an elevated experience – an experience that celebrates growth and challenge within a tight-knit community.
Welcome to Holderness!
Head of School Phil Peck
I love Holderness because daily we are bold enough to aspire to live up to the high calling of our motto, mission, and vision. They are existential in that you will always be called to do better.
John McVeigh will serve as Holderness School’s 10th Head of School, beginning July 1, 2022.
John comes to Holderness as a beloved and integral member of the Brooks School community, where over the course of 18 years he has served as Dean of Faculty, Associate Director of Admissions and Financial Aid, Director of College Counseling, a classroom teacher in Science, Math and Oratory, advisor, and Varsity Boys Basketball Coach. Prior to his time at Brooks, John worked as an engineer for Intel, having graduated with a Masters of Environmental Management from Duke University. He also graduated Magna Cum Laude as a dual major in Biology and Chemistry from Merrimack College, where he was an Academic All-American basketball player and the recipient of a scholarship from the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence.
The Holderness School Board of Trustees embrace and model the core values of Community, Character, and Curiosity and seek to make manifest the values within the strategic plan. The Board of Trustees view successful governance as a combination of fiduciary, strategic, and generative modes and aspire to realize all three in their guidance of Holderness. The Board of Trustees takes seriously its duties of care, obedience, and loyalty in the governance of the school, and they care for the school in their fiduciary and strategic capabilities to ensure its sustainability and success, both now and far into the future.
The Administrative Leadership represents important areas of school programming and external operations with the primary focus of balancing mission-driven strategic planning with day-to-day activities to ensure that the Holderness community remains strong today and well into the future.
GROUNDED IN OUR GROWTH:
A Strategic Direction For Holderness School
If 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that uncertainty abounds and accountable flexibility is key to good planning. And while our strategic planning process began well before phrases like social distancing became part of our vocabulary, we had the foresight to explore a new way of strategic thinking. Holderness calls it strategic wayfinding, and it provides a unique framework. It has community, character, and curiosity at its core.
At Holderness, leadership is central to every aspect of our culture. During their time on campus, we teach kids to step forward with courage, humility, and perseverance so that they can transform their own lives and work for the betterment of humankind.
