Editor’s Note: This graph uses data from the 2024 and 2025 State of the
Academy surveys.
Following Head of School (HOS) Raynard Kington’s announcement that he will conclude his tenure in June 2027, students have begun reflecting on his tenure thus far and considering what qualities should define the next era of leadership at Andover.
As reported in the 2025 State of the Academy (SOTA), 55.57% of students expressed approval of work done by Kington. Reflecting on this, Henry Zimmerman ’27 noted that the HOS role can be difficult for students to evaluate, as much of it happens outside of direct student view.
“A lot of students don’t really know what the Head of School actually does because it’s not a very student-facing position at the moment. It’s more of a ceremonial member running the institution, which is very different from being in charge of the student body, and that’s a unique position at Phillips Academy where institutional planning and alumni engagement are a big part of the role. As students, we don’t really have the knowledge to evaluate how the Head of School Office is doing on the alumni engagement and future planning aspects,” said Zimmerman.
Echoing views expressed by some since the beginning of Kington’s tenure, Zadie Robinson ’26 described what she sees as a lack of connection between the HOS and the broader community.
“As I’ve spoken to a lot of faculty and a lot of students, the biggest thing is that he does not connect with the student body or the faculty very well, and he, in the past, hasn’t fully tried to have that overall connection between them,” said Robinson.
Nonetheless, Robinson pointed to moments when Kington’s presence resonated with her.
She continued, “I remember during the MLK workshop, he was able to speak a lot about his experience as a gay doctor in STEM… he definitely has a lot of experiences that when he shares, I definitely take note of and I learn more about him through. I would also say the few times that he has reached out to the student body and connected, it has been very notable.”
In an interview earlier this month with The Phillipian, Kington reflected on his own learning curve in building those connections.
“I had this idea that there was a particular way to be the Head of School. That you had to go to all the games, you had to go to all the plays, you had to be an energizer bunny… it took me a while to realize that that was not going to be the way that I connected with students,” said Kington.
While students have voiced critiques of Kington’s visibility, some have observed increased efforts in recent years. The 2024 SOTA reported that 17.8% of students felt the HOS connected with the student body; in the 2025 SOTA, that number rose to 33.2%, marking a 15.4% increase. Jasjit Hargun ’27 described some of the changes he perceived.
“In my freshman year, most people didn’t really see him, and he didn’t feel so connected with the community… He’s not as integrated as most of us would like, but he is working on it,” said Hargun.
Hargun continued, “My guess is [this] happened because of the SOTA. He’s been trying a lot harder to have his school munches and other events where he’s with students since last year.”
From that same interview with The Phillipian, Kington mentioned opportunities such as lunches and meetings with student leaders as spaces where he feels he can build relationships more meaningfully.
“The HOS munches, the lunches where kids can sign up and have lunch with me… those types of interactions, helping students think about the world and helping them think about strategy, the meetings that I have once a month with the co-presidents… I realize that those are the settings where I really like the connection in a way,” said Kington.
Gracie Aziabor ’26, 2025-26 Student Body Co-President, shared how her impression of Kington changed over time as she met with him more often. She encouraged students to consider Kington as someone they can approach beyond his position.
“Honestly, I was intimidated by him when I was younger. But now, [Philip Meng ’26, Student Body Co-President] and I meet with him about once a month, and it’s been nice to sit down and have a conversation with him. I feel that because he’s obviously busy and students are busy, we don’t get to see him very often. You forget that he’s just another adult on campus that you can talk to, and I’ve had a pretty great time getting to know him,” said Aziabor.
Other students have noted that Kington’s experience outside Andover can make it challenging for him to fully connect with the student body. Jaewon Choi ’28 emphasized that familiarity with the school’s unique needs can make a difference.
“A Head of School is different from a college president. Dr. Kington’s leadership comes from the fact that he has been the deputy director at the National Institute of Health and the president of Grinnell College. But a community [like] Andover, which is a boarding school and not a college, requires a different type of leader. We need a leader who comes from within,” said Choi.
Choi continued, “I feel that oftentimes, new leadership that comes from other institutions do not know the unique needs that we have, and so the result is at least for the first few years, there’s some mismatch that happens between the needs of the school and the needs of the community with the decisions that are being made.”
Aziabor expressed her hopes for a future HOS with more experience communicating with the student body and who could foster stronger connections between students and faculty.
“If the next head of school is also someone who’s pretty extroverted and able to talk to students and connect with students, that would be a really good thing, and maybe someone who just has really good communication skills. Especially as we’re entering a time where the school is going through a lot of changes or planning to go through a lot of changes, having someone who’s really skillful at communicating ideas, especially to a younger student body, would be really helpful,” said Aziabor.
