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Barbara Riley, the only woman to head Westville’s private Hopkins School in its 355-year-history, has announced that she will step down at the end of the next school year.
Riley (pictured) will have spent 20 years at the school, including 15 years as “head of school,” when she leaves on July 1, 2016. Hopkins has hired the search firm Spencer Stuart to find her replacement.
“If the broad purpose of education is to prepare people for the task of defining themselves in relation to the world, it has turned out that my Hopkins experience has served me well,” Riley, who lives in Westville, wrote to parents, teachers and alumni in a letter announcing her plans.
A release sent by the school stated that “under Riley’s leadership, Hopkins has added $45 million in new buildings and upgraded athletic facilities, increased endowment by $60 million to $90 million, expanded academic programs and enhanced the recruitment and retention of top faculty, continuing to place Hopkins as a highly selective school.”
