About the Board


The Berwick Board of Trustees is currently comprised of 20 members of the community who serve without compensation. There are two ex-officio seats on the Board of Trustees: the president of the Alumni Advisory Board and the president of the Berwick Parent Community (BPC). The Board of Trustees at Berwick, as is the case with similar nonprofit institutions, has three fundamental roles:

1) To ensure that the mission of the school is being delivered and supported fully
2) To protect and support the long-term financial viability of the school
3) To hire and evaluate the Board’s singular employee, the Head of School. No individual Board member is invested with authority to act independently; all decisions regarding policy are voted on by the Board as a whole.

The Board of Trustees is responsible for the School’s adherence to its mission, the monitoring of its financial wellbeing, and the implementation of the strategic plan. The Board meets four times a year and has the following Standing Committees: Audit, Building and Grounds, Campaign, Committee on Trustees, Executive, Finance/Investment, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI), and Strategic Initiatives. Board members sit on one or more of these committees.

The Board implements the school’s mission through its utmost support and confidence in the Head of School and the administrative team. Within the Board structure, the Executive Committee helps the Head of School confront emergent challenges facing the school.  Different committees within the board approve and support mission driven strategic goals and new initiatives for the school. Trustees are also fervent supporters of the Berwick Fund not only through their generous financial donations, but also as advocates and educators for the community.  

Each fall, the Board and administration welcome new community members to a New Family Dinner event, and they are always willing to help educate any Berwick community member on the role of the trustees. Families are always welcome to contact Head of School Jim Hamilton directly with questions, or they may reach out to Lesli Friel, who currently serves as the chair of the Committee on Trustees. The Committee on Trustees hopes that you find this resource to be a useful educational tool and that it engenders a sense of deep appreciation for what our volunteer trustees give to the Academy. They are truly motivated by the purpose of serving Berwick students–past, present, and future.
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Berwick Academy

Berwick Academy, situated on an 80-acre campus just over one hour north of Boston, serves 550 students, Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12 and Post-Graduates. Berwick students are from Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and several countries. Deeply committed to its mission of promoting virtue and useful knowledge, Berwick Academy empowers students to be creative and bold. Berwick strives to graduate alumni who shape their own learning, take risks, ask thoughtful questions, and come to understand and celebrate their authentic selves.