Tower Hill School has named a current administrator to lead the exclusive private school.
Sarah D. A. Baker was chosen by Tower Hill School’s board of trustees as the new head of school after an extensive search by faculty, staff, parents, alumni and trustees.
Currently the head of the Upper School, Baker will begin as head of the school on July 1, becoming the school’s 11th individual to hold the title in its 103-year history and succeeding current head of school Bessie Speers.
Baker grew up in Philadelphia and received her Bachelor’s degree from Duke University and her Master’s degree in education from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to her current position at Tower Hill’s Upper School, she was the assistant head of the Upper School at Collegiate School in Richmond, Va. while serving as an associate instructor and mentor in her graduate program.
“She has a true respect for Tower Hill’s traditions and will further our commitment to innovation and excellence in the region and nationally,” according to a statement from the Wilmington school.
Baker has “developed valuable experience working effectively” with all members of the Tower Hill community and is regarded as “an educator at heart,” the statement said.
This news comes several months after Tower Hill School was in the headlines when former school administrator William Ushler was banned and fired from campus in early 2022 after being arrested.
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Ushler, who served as Tower Hill School’s director of upper school admissions before his arrest, was charged in April with five counts of dealing in child pornography.
In late July, he was indicted on those five counts, along with two counts of sexual solicitation of a child. The case against Ushler remains pending. A trial is currently scheduled for April 3.
Tower Hill, founded in 1919, counts some of Delaware’s most influential citizens among its alumni. It has a 44-acre campus off Pennsylvania Avenue in North Wilmington.
The school currently has 847 students at its lower, middle and upper schools. Tuition and fees at the college preparatory school range from $25,800 to $33,800.
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