Dear Punahou Community,

 

I am delighted to announce that Gustavo Carrera has accepted my offer to become the next Academy Principal of Punahou School. He will join our team on July 1, 2022 and follow Emily McCarren as she departs to become the head of Keystone Academy in Beijing.

 

Gustavo Carrera is both a highly accomplished academic leader and a brilliant teacher. Currently the Head of the Upper School at Shore Country Day School in Massachusetts, a position he has held since 2018, he has promoted academic excellence while also strongly enhancing the school’s commitment to the developmental and educational needs of adolescents. As a high school History and Social Sciences Department Head and faculty member at Buckingham Browne and Nichols School in Massachusetts, where he served from 2007 – 2018, he led an effort to increase the global orientation of the school’s curriculum and served as the school’s new faculty coordinator, providing valuable mentorship and development opportunities for new colleagues. From 2001 – 2007 Gustavo taught at New York’s Riverdale Country School, another exceptionally strong and prominent institution.

 

Gustavo is the recipient of national teaching awards from the National Council for the Social Studies, the American Historical Association, and the World History Association. He holds a B.A. in History from Columbia University, an M.A. in Teaching American History and Government from Ashland University, and has completed advanced graduate work at Rutgers University.

 

Deeply interested in the challenge of ensuring that students develop the essential intellectual and personal abilities to navigate a rapidly shifting future, Gustavo is well-prepared to advance Punahou’s strategic objectives for teaching and learning. He is strongly committed to faculty development and parent engagement as well, and I am confident that he will make vital contributions here. A native of Argentina, Gustavo also brings the perspective of someone who has repeatedly crossed cultural borders, and he is excited to find a new home at Punahou while advancing the diverse and inclusive character of our own community.

 

I am very grateful to our search committee for their outstanding support during this process and would like to thank the many faculty and staff who attended the on-campus sessions with our finalists.

 

Finally, I want to thank Emily McCarren for her great service and commitment to Punahou. Over the past seven years she has led the Academy with the heart of a teacher, always guided by the best learning outcomes for our students and committed to the support of our faculty as well.

 

With aloha,

 

 

Michael E. Latham, President

 

On behalf of the search committee:

Noe Archambault, Vice President for Advancement

Todd Chow-Hoy, Junior School Principal

Dan Gaudiano, Academy Science Department Head

Dani Goddard, Director, Luke Center for Public Service

Mike Latham, President

Erin Maretzki, Academy Dean

Emily Reber Porter, Trustee

Pam Sakamoto, Academy Social Studies Department Head

Kitty Wo, Trustee