Head of School Search

The Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that it has selected Peter Kernion, Principal of Jesuit High School, as the next Head of School for Stuart Hall School for Boys.

The Search Committee has worked over the last two years to find the right Head of School to continue the mission and live out the values of Stuart Hall. Our work was extensive, as was the feedback and insight provided by our families, faculty and school community-at-large. As the most recent candidate interviews and visits were completed, the Search Committee reviewed the entirety of our search efforts across recent school years and revisited who could serve the best interests of Stuart Hall.

After conducting a nationwide search to find the right fit for Stuart Hall, the Search Committee determined that what Stuart Hall needed was right here in New Orleans.

Peter Kernion is the Principal at Jesuit High School, a position he has held for the last eleven years. Peter was a finalist in the Head of School search following Kevin Avin’s retirement and remained interested in Stuart Hall. Because of his faith-filled leadership skills, experience in all boys Catholic schools, and familiarity with New Orleans and our School community, Peter is the best candidate to be the next Head of Stuart Hall. The Board has unanimously voted to offer the position to Peter.

Peter has educated young men for almost 30 years, with the last 28 spent in various roles at Jesuit High School both as a teacher, an administrator and leader. Peter shares our vision for Stuart Hall and embraces the values upon which our school and community are built. He understands the academic strengths and, more importantly, the strong character of Stuart Hall graduates, as they have thrived at Jesuit and other top high schools across the area.

The Board of Trustees appreciates the time invested and insight offered by so many parents, grandparents, administrators and faculty throughout this important search. As we shared previously, the insight we’ve received these past months demonstrates a uniform love for Stuart Hall.

During the coming months, all members of the Stuart Hall Community will have an opportunity to meet Peter prior to his official start on July 1, 2024.

Both the Search Committee and the entire Board of Trustees are thrilled to have Peter lead Stuart Hall. We look forward to working with him as we embark on the 40th anniversary of the school in the 2024-25 school year.

Dear Members of the Stuart Hall Community,

After serious consideration, the Board of Trustees has made the decision to extend the search for our next permanent Head of School.

Under Dr. Tim Burns’s leadership, the Stuart Hall community is continuing to grow and make very positive strides. Dr. Burns’ decades of experience as a Head of School is exactly what Stuart Hall needs at this time. We are very pleased that Dr. Burns has agreed to extend his interim headship to two years, through the end of the 2023-2024 school year.

The school community met with several strong candidates in recent months, and we believe the remaining candidates could lead Stuart Hall. However, the Board has made the decision that another year under Dr. Burns’s leadership will give the next Head of School the best chance for success.

The Search Committee will be meeting after the Holidays to discuss our next steps in this most important process and we will continue to update our community as we move forward. Thank you to all in the community for your interest and involvement and to the Search Committee, which has devoted many hours to the process and will continue to work toward a successful conclusion.

Sincerely,

The Stuart Hall Board of Trustees

June 17, 2022

Dear Stuart Hall Community,

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we are pleased to announce the appointment of an Interim Head of School for the 2022-2023 school year, Dr. Timothy M. Burns.

A highly talented educational leader, Dr. Burns has wide-ranging experience heading independent schools, including serving as the headmaster of the Academy of the Sacred Heart in New Orleans from 2003 through 2014. He has served as head of three schools and served as interim head of eleven other schools.

The search committee and the Board of Trustees selected Dr. Burns unanimously out of a pool of highly qualified educators and school leaders. Dr. Burns’s experience serving as an interim head of several independent schools across the nation will undoubtedly benefit our boys, faculty and staff, and school community. This experience will allow a seamless transition in leadership, while keeping our school’s mission and commitment to our boys clear and focused as we move forward in our search for a permanent head of school. In addition, Dr. Burns’s connections to New Orleans and his time leading the Academy of the Sacred Heart were compelling characteristics in his selection.

Dr. Burns began lending his expertise to a number of schools in transition more than thirty years ago, serving as interim or transition head of independent schools in New York, Illinois, Ohio, California, Missouri, Delaware, and Washington. Throughout his career, Dr. Burns has developed wide ranging expertise through his service to several different types of schools across the country. Dr. Burns and his wife, Kathy, have two daughters and four grandchildren.

In addition to Dr. Burns serving as Interim Head of School, the Board of Trustees is pleased to announce that former Head of School Kevin Avin will serve as Advisor to the Interim Head of School with a specific focus on major gifts and alumni relations for the 2022-2023 school year. Mr. Avin and Dr. Burns are longtime colleagues, with both having tenures as independent school heads of New Orleans schools. Mr. Avin is excited to serve the Stuart Hall School for Boys in this capacity and will work closely with Dr. Burns to establish and strengthen ties within the school community.

The Board of Trustees now turns its focus to finding a permanent Head of School for the 2023-2024 school year. This search will be an extensive process that will review candidates from New Orleans and beyond. We will provide our community with updates on this search process in the coming weeks and months.

We look forward to the year ahead as we work together to carry on the mission of Stuart Hall with one goal in mind: to love and support our boys and ensure that we as a school continue to build a foundation for a life centered on a love for learning, a desire to help others and a commitment to Gospel values.

We hope everyone continues to enjoy a great summer break.

Sincerely,

Taylor Mouledoux '96

President, Board of Trustees

Stephen L. Miles

President-Elect, Board of Trustees

Interim Search Committee Chair

April 19, 2022

To Our Stuart Hall Community:

On behalf of the Board of Trustees, we want to inform you that Brian Moscona has decided that he will not return as Stuart Hall’s Head of School next school year.

The Board appreciates Mr. Moscona’s service to Stuart Hall, working with our faculty and staff to help our boys transition through a second year of COVID protocols and overseeing the launch of our strategic plan. Under Mr. Moscona’s leadership, the school’s enrollment and finances have remained strong, and the school is well-positioned for continued success in the years ahead.

The Board has initiated a process of identifying a new Head of School. To ensure that we identify and select the candidates best suited for guiding Stuart Hall in the years to come, we anticipate that we will first hire an interim Head of School for the 2022-23 school year and then a permanent Head of School prior to the 2023-24 school year. We will update you as we proceed through this search process in the coming weeks.

Stuart Hall is blessed with an administrative team, faculty and staff that create an excellent, caring learning environment for our sons. They all reflect the qualities that our boys learn and strive to live daily – friendship, compassion, thankfulness, peacemaker, courage, perseverance, responsibility and honesty. During this time of transition, we are grateful that we can continue to count on this entire team to continue to do the work God has called them to do.

Sincerely,

Taylor Mouledoux

President, Board of Trustees

Dear Stuart Hall Community,

My purpose in writing this letter is to share that I have decided not to return to Stuart Hall after the conclusion of this school year. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve you and your boys over the past nine months. It has been a privilege to participate in the formation of your sons, and I will continue to pray that they will grow into the great men that God calls them to be.

I am truly grateful for the ways my own children have grown and developed this year and for all of those who have been part of their experience here. Stuart Hall is extremely blessed with an amazing faculty of talented women and men who love our boys so much.

Please be assured of my prayers for you and your family as we journey through Holy Week. May the peace and joy of the risen Christ be with each of you, and may you have a blessed celebration of Easter!

In Christ,

Mr. Moscona