Head of School Alixe Callen announced Wednesday that, following a highly competitive national search, Milton Academy has chosen Rachel Stone as the next Upper School principal. She will join the Milton community in July 2024.
“I am so pleased to welcome Rachel to the Milton community. She is an extremely talented, experienced educator with 30 years of experience working in independent schools in both faculty and leadership roles,” Dr. Callen wrote. “She is currently the head of school at Canterbury School, a coeducational boarding and day school in New Milford, Connecticut—a role she has held for the past eight years. While at Canterbury, she drove the advancement of their academic program, growing the breadth and depth of the school’s curriculum across multiple disciplines. She also oversaw the planning and launch of a new comprehensive strategic plan, expanding the school’s physical plant and campus in support of student education and growth.”
Before assuming the headship at Canterbury, Ms. Stone spent 22 years at Blair Academy, an independent school in Blairstown, New Jersey, where she served in a number of roles including four years as an assistant head of school, 15 years as dean of faculty, and 11 years as a science and math teacher.
Ms. Stone has demonstrated a commitment to fostering individual growth and creativity among students, faculty, and staff. She is recognized throughout the independent school community for her student-centered approach to both leadership and the educational experience. She will be a strong advocate for our students, building on Milton’s long tradition of nurturing insightful, independent learners. Additionally, having served so long as both a teacher and dean of faculty, Ms. Stone understands the importance of affirming and valuing the work teachers do every day, and is fully committed to supporting faculty success within a student-centered environment.
Throughout her career, Ms. Stone has worked to foster a culture of inclusion and belonging, providing important programming opportunities while working to amplify the voices of all community members. At Canterbury, she led the school’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice initiatives, including developing student leadership processes, implementing an affinity groups and spaces program, establishing interfaith initiatives, and personally teaching a seminar on systemic racism in public health.
Ms. Stone’s personal academic journey is centered in science and public health, which provides her with a unique and informed perspective on STEM topics and student mental health. She earned her B.A. in biology from Yale College, as well as a master’s degree in public health from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. Her master’s thesis focused on how independent schools could identify students’ key health and social challenges and use them to drive the guiding principles for creating a new health curriculum.
