Peter G. Curran

Peter G. Curran became Blair Academy’s 17th Head of School in January 2021. He brings to this role 20 years’ experience in independent-school education, gained during an expansive career that has taken him to institutions across the globe. He and his wife, Sarah, found a home at Blair in 2011, attracted by the School’s vibrant, student-centered culture and flourishing reputation in the boarding-school world. Mr. Curran has since been involved in every facet of school life, and, with a deep understanding of Blair’s diverse and close-knit community, he has shared his love for Blair with students, families and alumni around the world.

Appointed to Blair’s faculty as a dean in the student life office and English teacher, Peter later became Dean of Admission. He soon rose to Assistant Head of School for Enrollment and Communications and, later, Associate Head of School, as he took a leading role in the architecture and execution of their 2018-2025 Strategic Plan, All In.

Throughout his Blair tenure, Peter has traveled extensively and engaged enthusiastically with families, students and alumni of every background and experience. As he has shared with them the transformative nature of a Blair education, he has also strengthened the global Blair community and elevated the School’s name and reputation. Under his leadership of the admission team, Blair has enjoyed a record number of applications year after year, and admission to the School has become increasingly selective.

Peter is a 1997 graduate of Milton Academy and a 2001 graduate of Bowdoin College, where he majored in art history and minored in French. After college, he began his career in independent-school education as a history teacher at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, Maryland, and he then taught for one year on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona.

Upon earning his MEd at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education in 2005, Peter accepted a position at The American School in Switzerland as dean for 10th and 11th grades, as well as a teacher and soccer and lacrosse coach. He returned home to the United States each summer during his two years abroad and spent one summer working at Harvard University as assistant dean of the secondary-school program.

Peter furthered his experience in boarding-school administration as dean of students at Fountain Valley School in Colorado. There, he also taught and coached for four years before returning to his East Coast roots when he joined the faculty at Blair.

In addition to the many roles he has held at Blair, Peter has been active professionally outside of the School, too. He regularly presents at national conferences focused on education and co-founded The Deans' Roundtable, a nonprofit that promotes best practices among independent schools. Peter serves as a trustee at Oldfields School in Sparks Glencoe, Maryland, and is a former trustee of North Country School in Lake Placid, New York.