Barnhart School Welcomes New Head of School Ethan D. Williamson

Ethan D. Williamson and his wife Amy drove all the way from Wilmington, North Carolina to take up his new post as head of school of The Barnhart School in Arcadia, just outside East Pasadena. Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, Service: these are the Quaker values that Williamson was raised with and which have formed his philosophy of education as he prepares to start a new chapter in his life, and in the life of an important local independent school.

“I became headmaster at Friends School of Wilmington as a 33-year old teacher. When I arrived, FSW was in its third year of existence with just 30 enrolled middle school students housed in one building. I’ve spent the last fourteen years of my career building the school’s facilities and enrollment to include 180 plus students ages 18 months through 8th grade in six buildings on two nearby campuses,” he explains. “Institutions grow more slowly than careers and, having ‘built the bench’ for the next Head, now it’s time to move on to my next adventure – the next step in my career.”

While the northeast and North Carolina both have a long history of Quaker education, Pasadena also has a strong Quaker community.

“The Friends have a long history of supporting equality in education,” Williamson explains.

“They were some of the first schools to integrate and provide co-ed education. The oldest schools in the country are Friends schools, through the Charter of Pennsylvania.”

“What’s stuck with me from my Quaker education are the foundational values that were shared by the founders of our country – simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality and service. Religious freedom was also very important to early Quakers.”

How did he come to make the big move from East Coast to West?

“After spending over a decade at FSW, I felt that I was ready to explore new opportunities in my career and began a nation-wide search for the next school that would benefit from my skills and talents. I first learned of the position online, as that’s how searches for heads of school are conducted these days,” Williamson tells us. “What really attracted me was reading about the values and the community focus of the school. It was clear from the outset that Barnhart School is not only interested in providing excellent academics, they’re interested in educating the whole child and in character education, not only on an intellectual level but on an emotional and ethical level as well. That is a good fit for me.”

“Through the interview process, it was clear to me that this group of people enjoyed each other’s company,” he says. “To me, that was number one. I wanted to work with a group of people – an authentic community – that really embraced one another as people. It felt more like family than an institution. That’s a distinctive quality in this marketplace.”

After growing up in Annapolis, Maryland, Williamson spent his senior year of high school at the Sandy Spring Friends School near Washington, D.C, which is where he first became passionate about Quaker education. He later earned degrees in Psychology and German from Guildford College, a Quaker School in Greensboro, North Carolina, where his step-son attended a Quaker PK-8 on the Guildford campus, and where Williamson eventually taught first and second grade for 5 years.

“My first job teaching was actually teaching French immersion, kindergarten through fifth grade in Stanly County Schools,” he says. “It was great fun helping such young students learn to understand and even speak French with an authentic accent. Since I spoke only French in the classroom, many of students truly thought I went home to France every night.”

How does Williamson intend to position Barnhart School in the competitive local market?

“First, we will engage in a strategic planning process. It will be a cooperative process led by the leadership of the board and the leadership of the school, engaging every stakeholder group and constituency in the community,” he says. “We intend to roll out a strategic plan to the public, especially the parents at the school, by early winter.” “The strategic planning process will begin as the school year begins ,” he says. “And will allow us to fully understand how Barnhart is perceived now and what its positioning will need to be to compete in this marketplace most effectively. My job will be to make sure that all of our systems are working well and that the school is firing on all cylinders.”

“The loyalty to this wonderfully diverse school is tremendous. Many graduates have become teachers and parents at the school. We need to tell the Barnhart story in a compelling way in a modern marketplace through modern tools,” Williamson continued.

“We also need to enhance the student and parent experience. That means enhancing the academic program, implementing a sensible integration of technology, ensuring that the facilities meet the needs of the students, ensuring that we have the resources to deliver on our mission, and strengthening institutional leadership,” he said.

Williamson is eager to point out that Barnhart School has already rolled out a new merit scholarship program – to attract motivated, mission-appropriate students – the San Gabriel Valley Scholars Program.

“The merit scholarships available at Barnhart are intended to increases access to an excellent education for all students who are willing to work hard,” says Williamson. “The student has to maintain a 3.0 average to be eligible. They are selected based on their essay and interview with the selection committee, which next year will be made up of admissions personnel from other local high schools, colleges, and universities. This year we awarded one full scholarship, one $,5500 scholarship, and four $3,000 scholarships. Once selected, the student will receive this scholarship for every year of attendance as long as the student continues tomeet the requirements. We also offer a one-time $1,500 award for qualified candidates who complete the process. We just completed the program for this year and we’ve enrolled six new San Gabriel Valley Scholars as of last Tuesday.”

For more information about Barnhart School, call (626) 446-5588 or visit www.barnhartschool.org