The dean and assistant headmaster of a Florence, S.C., private school accepted the job of headmaster at Bishop Seabury Academy.
Chris Carter, 35, plans to assume duties July 1 at the Episcopal school east of Lawrence.
"It is an incredibly exciting opportunity," Carter said in a telephone interview Tuesday. "I was overwhelmed with the people I met."
Carter has been assistant headmaster and upper division dean for six years at Byrnes School, a nonsectarian institution serving 383 students in kindergarten through 12th grade.
At Bishop Seabury, Carter will lead a school with 100 students in junior high and high school. He replaces Kris Pueschel, who was removed as headmaster after three years at the helm. The school's board of trustees decided not to renew Pueschel's contract and placed him on paid leave two months ago.
Bishop Seabury's future won't be tarnished by controversy, Carter said.
"I'm excited, in part, because the board, the faculty and students were very supportive. I'm excited to help take the school to the next step," he said.
Bishop Seabury trustees have been working to construct a new campus, which is located three miles east of Lawrence in the former Kaw Valley School. A new facility would make it easier for the academy to expand enrollment.
Carter is a native of Chickasha, Okla., southwest of Oklahoma City. He's married to Susan Campbell, a mental health counselor.
In 1987, he earned a bachelor's degree in English at Washington & Lee University, and taught three years at an Episcopal school, ChristChurch, in Middlesex County, Va.
He earned a master's degree in English at College of William and Mary in 1990. He taught two years at Charlotte Latin School in Charlotte, N.C., before returning to ChristChurch for two years as English department chair.
In 1995, he moved to South Carolina to be dean at Byrnes.
Carter said families were increasingly interested in alternatives to public schools.
"I think a lot of people are looking for an alternative which can educate not just the mind but can be directed more to values," he said.
-- Staff writer Tim Carpenter can be reached at 832-7155.
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