HEBRON — Hebron Academy Head of School John King has announced he will step down in June 2016.

He has served in the top post since 2001.

The announcement was made during the Board of Trustees winter meeting .

A Search Committee comprised of trustees will be supported by an outside consultant. There also will be an advisory committee made up of faculty and administrators at the academy.

“We owe him much gratitude,” Paul Goodof, chairman of the Board of Trustees, said in a statement released by the academy. “John’s efforts over the years have strengthened in every way the academy’s commitment to prepare and graduate students to be successful in today’s complex and competitive world. In addition, he has directed and enhanced school finances to assure Hebron’s sustainability for future generations.”

During King’s tenure, the academy has enjoyed its largest student body in recent history, which is represented by a far broader geographical and cultural mix, the creation of a state-of-the-art athletic complex and the planning in progress for significant upgrades to science and art facilities, the academy said.

The academy said King has also attracted and retained a varied and inspiring faculty and staff.

King and his wife, Marcia, came to Hebron in 2001 from Salisbury School, an all-boys, private college-preparatory boarding school founded in 1901 in Salisbury, Conn. King was the director of development.

He also spent time at Holderness School in Plymouth, N.H., where his responsibilities covered numerous areas, including teaching, coaching, academic advising, college counseling, development, admissions and marketing.

King serves on the board of directors of the Independent Schools Association of Northern New England and has chaired several visiting reaccreditation committees at independent schools throughout the northeast for the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. His commitment to the value of a solid secondary education is deeply rooted, the academy said.

“What Marcia and I will miss after we ‘graduate’ will be the daily interactions, the personalities and all the emotions of students and the extraordinary teachers and staff we’ve seen grow and take leadership of this school,” King said in a statement announcing his decision. “What we will hold dearest is the memories of moments and the knowledge that Hebron has, and will forever change so many young people’s lives, as it has changed ours immutably.”

The academy was chartered in 1804 and opened its doors in 1805, making it one of the oldest endowed boarding schools in the country.

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