Head of School Search

December 12, 2025

Dear Suffield Academy Community,

We are pleased to share wonderful news about Suffield’s future. After an extensive search process, the Board of Trustees has unanimously approved Casey Hagerman Bobo as Suffield Academy’s next Head of School, beginning on July 1, 2027.

From the moment we met her, Casey excited the Search Committee with her warmth, humility, and unmistakable passion for schools. Casey is currently Assistant Head of School at Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, Massachusetts, and her career has included meaningful leadership roles at Belmont Hill, Brooks, The New School, and The Hockaday School. Casey’s broad experience ranges from teacher, coach, and advisor to college counselor, admissions professional, and strategic partner to Boards of Trustees.

Casey grew up on the Deerfield Academy campus, where her parents were faculty members. She later attended Hotchkiss and Dartmouth College, thriving as a scholar-athlete. Casey is the proud mother of three young adult sons. Mike Bobo, her husband of 28 years, passed away in 2024.

Throughout the search, we met with an exceptionally strong group of candidates—eleven finalists from around the country who care deeply about the mission of independent schools. Even among such talented leaders, Casey stood out clearly. Her authenticity, communication skills, and passion for the role deeply impressed the Search Committee.

One of the most moving moments in this process came when Casey expressed her desire to spend the 2026-2027 academic year working for Head of School Charlie Cahn. Casey admires the historic contributions Charlie and Hillary have made to Suffield. We are deeply grateful to Charlie for his wisdom throughout the search and heartfelt enthusiasm for Casey’s appointment. This transition year will provide a seamless experience for Suffield students, parents, faculty, and staff.

In speaking about being selected for this role, Casey commented, “I am very honored, humbled, and excited about joining the Suffield Academy family. I love boarding schools, and Suffield’s compelling philosophy deeply resonates with me. Charlie and Hillary Cahn’s loving, accomplished, and historic leadership has the school in a truly wonderful place. I am excited to learn from Charlie next year and then help lead Suffield forward with the impressive students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and trustees. I can’t wait.”

In the coming months our community will have many opportunities to welcome Casey Bobo. We also look forward to celebrating and thanking Hillary and Charlie Cahn, whose impact on our school will be felt for generations. We have great optimism for Suffield’s next chapter.

Sincerely,

Frederic B. Powers III ’83, P’14
President, Board of Trustees | Co-Chair Head of School Search

Daniel R. Tisch ’69, P’02
Trustee Emeritus | Co-Chair Head of School Search

Fred Powers ’83, P’14 [President of the Board of Trustees], Casey Bobo, and Charles Cahn III P’18, ’22 [Head of School]

Messages to the Suffield Academy Community

09.01.2025 | From Head of School Search Co-Chairs Fred Powers & Dan Tisch

September 1, 2025

Dear Suffield Academy Community,

We are pleased to share an update about the Head of School Search and the new academic year. It was a momentous summer for Suffield as several new gifts to the Cahn Scholars Fund helped propel the endowment past $100 million. This has been a central area of focus of Head of School Charlie Cahn and our Board of Trustees as we work to ensure a bright long-term future for the school. The endowment fund has doubled in the past six years.

Planning is in excellent shape for the new academic year, and construction of the new tennis and golf center is complete. A second phase of a solar energy initiative has unfolded during the past four months, and seven talented new faculty members have joined our community.

Over the past few months we have been working closely with our Carney Sandoe consultants on the Head search. They initially informed thousands of educators about the Suffield opportunity and did subsequent outreach to administrators around the country with a special focus on boarding schools. All candidates nominated through the community survey process were contacted. Building on these efforts, they identified over 200 potential candidates they felt might have an interest and the qualifications to be considered. Through interviews, research, and consultations with colleagues, they focused primary efforts on a group of 50 candidates.

Along with the Carney Sandoe team and Charlie Cahn, we are now identifying semifinalist candidates to meet with the full Trustee Head of School search committee later this fall. We look forward to this next phase and will keep you updated as we move closer to selecting Suffield’s next head.

Sincerely,

Frederic B. Powers III ’83, P’14
President, Board of Trustees | Co-Chair Head of School Search

Daniel R. Tisch ’69, P’02
Trustee Emeritus | Co-Chair Head of School Search

01.27.2025 | From Charles Cahn III

Charles Cahn III
Head of School

January 27, 2025

I am writing to follow up on today’s announcement that I will continue as Head of Suffield Academy until June 2027. Hillary and I have such love for Suffield that we wanted to share this news early so we can remain laser-focused on the success of every student here—both present and future—while allowing ample time to plan for a smooth leadership transition. Aside from our family, nothing in our lives makes us prouder than Suffield Academy.

Having been part of the community for 32 years, including 21 as Head of School, I am deeply honored to be the longest serving Head in our 192-year history. Suffield offers a truly exceptional environment for adolescents, shaped by caring adults, world-class facilities, and a steadfast commitment to our core four values of kindness, respect, leadership, and effort.

I know our parents and community members share my commitment to preserving Suffield’s unique culture and philosophy as we embark on this next chapter. I am incredibly proud of all we have accomplished together over the past two decades and grateful that the Trustee Head of School Search Committee has asked me to be involved in choosing Suffield’s next Head. The remarkable quality of our school and extended transition period will help us secure the best leader to uphold and build on Suffield’s legacy of excellence.

While our lives have been fully intertwined with Suffield Academy for so long, Hillary and I know that after 23 years leading the school we will be ready for new adventures together. We do not yet know what they will be, as our focus will remain squarely on helping every student here prosper and excel. We are inspired by this mission and will cherish each day during the next two and a half years.

We send our warmest regards and look forward to seeing you on campus soon.

Sincerely,

Charles Cahn III
Head of School

01.27.2025 | From Frederic Powers III ’83, P’14

Frederic Powers III ’83, P’14
President, Board of Trustees

January 27, 2025

On behalf of the Suffield Academy Board of Trustees, I am writing with important news about our school’s future. At our most recent Board meetings on January 24 and 25, Head of School Charlie Cahn and I notified our Trustees of Charlie’s plans to serve as Head of School for two and a half more years, until June 2027.

The foresight of this timeline creates an excellent calendar for our Board to execute our most vital responsibility, hiring Charlie’s successor as Suffield’s next chief executive and leader. We have a process in place, and past Board President Dan Tisch ’69, P’02 and I will serve as co-chairs of the Head of School Search Committee. Our committee will also include Charlie and Trustees Matt Fine ’95, Valisha Graves ’81, Chris Houlihan P’05, Ali Salehi P’12, and Suzy Vogler P’11. We have selected the search firm of Carney Sandoe to assist us.

Our Board of Trustees fully supports this process and is grateful to Charlie and Hillary for giving us such advanced notice so we can secure the strongest pool of applicants to be Charlie’s successor. His leadership of Suffield for 21 years has been inspirational and historic, and we feel fortunate that Charlie will also help guide us through this important transition.

I look forward to communicating more about this in the coming months and to keeping the extended Suffield community updated as this process unfolds.

Sincerely,

Frederic B. Powers III ’83, P’14
President, Board of Trustees

Search Committee
Fred Powers ’83, P’14 [Co-chair], Dan Tisch ’69, P’02 [Co-chair], Charles Cahn III P’18, ’22, Matt Fine ’95, Valisha Graves ’81, Chris Houlihan P’05, Ali Salehi P’12, and Suzy Vogler P’11. The committee partnered with Carney, Sandoe & Associates to lead the search for its next Head of School, working closely with consultants Bob Vitalo, Todd Bland, and Lisa Parsons.

Suffield offers a truly exceptional environment for adolescents, shaped by caring adults, world-class facilities, and a steadfast commitment to our core four values of kindness, respect, leadership, and effort.

Core Values
In large measure, Suffield Academy is thriving as a community because all our constituents—students, faculty, alumni, parents—agree on unyielding fundamentals. Suffield offers a challenging, college-prep educational program with inspirational teachers and world-class facilities. We support our students’ physical and psychological growth in ways that mix firm expectations with empathy and understanding. Everything we do is framed by a commitment to our most essential values—Suffield’s Core Four—kindness, respect, effort, and leadership.

Mission
Suffield Academy is a coeducational independent secondary school serving a diverse community of boarding and day students. Our school has a tradition of academic excellence combined with a strong work ethic. A commitment to scholarship and a respect for individual differences guide our teaching and curriculum. We engender among our students a sense of responsibility, and they are challenged to grow in a structured and nurturing environment. The entire academic, athletic, and extracurricular experience prepares our students for a lifetime of learning, leadership, and active citizenship.