Peter Folan

About Peter Folan

I believe that the elementary, middle, and high school years are the most valuable and formative time in the lives of students. During these years, students come to conceptualize their identities and define how they view the world. A rich and supportive community that helps this age group to make meaning of their lives is critical to how these boys and girls will eventually grow into women and men. The value systems, the education attained, and the lessons that are learned become the foundation of one’s character and moral development. I am a product of a single-sex environment and that experience has had a profound impact on the life that I have lived and the way that I have tried to live it. The boys’ school culture influenced my vocational calling as I have always aspired to have the same level of influence on a group of students that I was privileged enough to have received. Through my formative years as a young teacher and administrator, I came to understand the value in helping students to connect and make meaning of what they studied. Providing and encouraging conversations that linked abstract ideas to one’s personal life became a hallmark of how I taught. I tried to inspire students to love reading and writing; I hoped to stimulate in my students the same wonder that I had gained from reading and the excitement that I found in writing. My lessons were designed to invoke a deep questioning within each student that I hoped would, in turn, spark a curiosity and a search for truth. In this quest, I tried to embody and live forth these values as a role model to the students that I engaged with in the classroom and on the athletic fields.

Experience

1. Head of School

   Dexter Southfield School

   Jul 2025 — Present · US

Education

• Boston College

  Master of Education (M.Ed.), Curriculum and Instruction in Secondary English

  1997 — 1998

• Harvard Business School

  Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management

  2016 — 2016

• University of Pennsylvania

  Doctor of Education - EdD, Higher Education/Higher Education Administration

• Boston College

  Bachelor's Degree, English

  1993 — 1997

• Belmont Hill School

  High School

  1986 — 1993

• University of Pennsylvania

  Ed.D, Higher Education Management

  2010 — 2012

Skills

• Grant Writing
• Fundraising
• Admissions
• Secondary Education
• Curriculum Development
• Grants
• Enrollment Management
• Leadership
• Higher Education Administration
• Strategic Planning
• Student Development
• Residence Life
• Volunteer Management
• Team Leadership
• Staff Development
• Curriculum Design
• Student Engagement
• Alumni Relations
• Academic Advising
• Career Counseling
• Community Outreach
• Event Planning
• Nonprofits
• Editing
• Program Evaluation
• Nonprofit Organizations