Dear Frederica Academy Family,

It is with deepest gratitude and profound respect that I write to you today to announce the impending retirement of Scott Hutchinson, our exceptional Head of School, and my friend and partner over the past seven years. Scott will continue to lead the school for the remainder of this school year as well as the entire 2026-2027 school year. He will retire in June 2027.

In graciously announcing his plans this early, Scott has given us the ability to conduct a thorough and strategic search for his successor while we have the benefit of his continued leadership over the next 15 months. You will receive more information regarding our plans for selecting Scott’s replacement tomorrow afternoon.

During his tenure, Scott has leveraged the wisdom amassed over a half-century career in independent school education. It has made him a decisive, measured, confident, strategic, and most importantly, a successful leader who values both joyfulness and accountability. Scott’s FA accomplishments are too numerous to list in totality, but I do want to take this opportunity to highlight some of his most significant achievements.

Over the past seven years, FA’s enrollment has grown by nearly 46%. Operational revenue has increased by over 60%. FA’s endowment has nearly doubled, and Scott has helped raise almost $18 million for campus capital improvements since 2022, eclipsing all previous fundraising records. When he arrived at FA, he believed the school’s Summer Programs to be an underleveraged asset. Since then, Summer Programs has increased its camp registrations by about 345% and revenue by more than 527%.

We are especially thankful to Scott for helping lead FA to new heights in academic, athletic, and arts programming and success.

Through Scott’s commitment to excellence and intentionality, academic performance and support has flourished. The redesign of the curriculum in the Lower School in tandem with consistent and engaging professional development training has vaulted the division’s ERB testing scores. A more vibrant and dynamic learning culture in the Middle School is the result of enhanced collaborative and hands-on learning; discovery now exists in ways not previously imagined. The Upper School’s AP portfolio has increased by 50% over the past seven years. Our 2025 AP scores earned FA the College Board Platinum Award, which is the highest distinction given to high schools that excel in building a strong culture by demonstrating broad access and high achievement in Advanced Placement courses.

Scott’s passion for and commitment to athletics are most visible in the expansion and improvement of our athletic facilities and the success of our programs at both the Middle School and varsity levels. The school’s first-ever state baseball title coming during the program’s first season in the new Watson Baseball Complex last year is but one example of the synergy of quality athletes, coaches, facilities, and programs. As a former captain of the Duke men’s soccer team, Scott is especially proud of the three state titles our varsity girls’ soccer team has won since 2023, the FA graduates who have extended their athletic careers into college, and the many athletes who have had purposeful seasons and careers since his arrival. Athletics are indeed a valuable cornerstone to the FA experience.

Perhaps most gratifying to observe since Scott’s arrival is the elevation of our Fine Arts Department’s programming and facilities. The expansion of music and theater experiences in the Middle School and Upper School coupled with the new Windolf-Johnston Performance Plaza, Music Suite, and the renovation of Sapp Hall have led to some wonderful performances and memories for our FA students and families in all three divisions. An additional visual arts teacher and classroom in the Ralston Fine Arts Center has also created new opportunities for all three divisions.

For some of our families, Scott will most be remembered for his ubiquitous presence each morning at Lower School carpool. He has opened thousands of vehicle doors over the past seven years and has learned the names of every new Lower School student in the early days of August as he welcomed them to campus each morning. On the other side of campus, Scott will be remembered for his thoughtful and eloquent poems at graduation where he insightfully and playfully honors every graduating senior each year.

Scott’s thoughts regarding today’s announcement are included in a note from him below. We will have many opportunities to express our endless gratitude to Scott over the next 15 months for what he has achieved and will continue to accomplish as the Head of our FA family.

Frederica Academy is now poised to attract an accomplished and exceptional leader from a national candidate pool who is inspired by the school’s recent successes and who is eager to build on Scott’s impressive legacy. I believe this may be Scott’s greatest gift to all of us.

Sincerely,

Greer Brown, Chair

Frederica Academy Board of Trustees

"Every new beginning comes from another beginning’s end."  Seneca

Dear FA Community,

I am writing now to share my intent to retire in June of 2027. That will conclude my eighth year serving as Head of School at Frederica Academy and end one of the most fulfilling and enjoyable chapters of my professional life. When I first met and talked at length to Greer Brown, Board Chair, during the interview process in the late fall of 2018, we both agreed that my working for 7-8 years seemed like about right if I was to be as helpful as I hoped to be. There is no easy time or easy way to separate from a school community that has accepted me so graciously, worked so collaboratively side-by-side to strengthen itself, and that I have enjoyed so profoundly; but this moment seems propitious now to pass along the mantle of leadership at FA.

My time at Frederica has far exceeded what I envisioned during that first conversation with Greer, both for myself and for the school; and I have so many people to thank for that. As a school head, this has been an incredibly easy and pleasant place in which to succeed as so many people and groups of people have been, and still remain, deeply committed to making the school stronger.

Thank you to the members of the Board of Trustees - past and present - who have most ably served the school during my tenure, and a special “shout out” to Greer who has chaired the Board of Trustees the entirety of my time here and who has offered helpful counsel, support, and friendship throughout. Board leadership has proven of paramount importance at various times in our school’s history both with action and with restraint, always guided by best practices and sound intentions. I believe that the school is largely where we are today as an institution because of healthy Board leadership.

Thank you to the members of the extraordinary Leadership Team who have all played such a critical role in both helping to create and execute multiple iterations of the Strategic Plan to secure a stable present and a strong future for the school. Their competency and their friendship, both individually and as a group, on a daily basis and at ground level, cannot be overestimated. Significant institutional progress in admissions, fundraising, finances, development of facilities, general operations, and the quality of programming and the daily ambience maintained in all three divisions is largely the result of their work. In particular, the guidance and support of the three division directors towards the teachers under their care has made a critical difference in creating a culture whereby in each respective division the whole of the culture exceeds the sum of the parts.

Thank you to the faculty and staff who have labored long hours and invested much thought and care in selflessly serving our students/families so well. Your dedication both to your craft and to your students distinguish you as exceptional; and you are, day in and day out, the steady heartbeat of the school. From my perspective, it can be challenging to lead a group even when we are all on the same page; it is nearly impossible to lead if we are not. Thanks to our teachers and staff for working to always find and then get on the same page. The best interest of our students unfailingly serves as our north star and consistently wins the day.

Thank you to the parents and friends at FA, past and present, for welcoming me into your community and working alongside my colleagues and me these past years. I can so clearly remember standing in the living room of a trustee’s home eight years ago during one of my community-interview gatherings and sharing that my primary goal in continuing my career at FA was to work with people who I was proud of in matters that seemed important to me. Your company, your friendship, and the development of your children over the years has made that twofold aspiration a reality for me.

Finally, thank you to all the FA students, young and old, who have graciously shared your campus and your busy lives with me over the last seven years. Regardless of age, watching you take the essential steps to becoming the person that you ultimately want to become has been inspirational to me and has kept my focus on helping in any small way that I could. Thank you for understanding what it takes to be a member of a healthy community and for doing your part to make that kind of community a reality.

I will continue to head the school through 2026-2027 school year and very much look forward to that opportunity. The positive momentum of the school continues to swell, and I am both eager and excited to witness this next chapter of the school’s history and assist in the leadership transition in whatever manner that I can. Again, too many hardworking, smart people are committed to seeing the school continue upwards on the arc of success, and it undoubtedly will.

Suzan and I will settle back into island life for our retirement years so you will most likely see us pedaling away on our bikes on the north end of the island, picking up take-out at Porch, or spectating at a school arts or athletic event. Go Knights!

A heartfelt thank you to all for the many kind ways that you have treated my family and me over the years.

With gratitude,

Scott L. Hutchinson

Head of School