50th Timeline: July 2010 – Bruce Haines Becomes the Seventh Head of Friends School Mullica Hill

After a nearly 9-month search process that involved interviewing candidates from inside and even outside the United States, the Board of Trustees selected Bruce Haines to be the School’s seventh Head of School.  A lifelong Quaker, Bruce brought with him a deep love of Friends Education from his time as a student and later from his time as a Board member at Westtown School. Working in a school was a second career for him, as he had spent many years as a successful attorney and partner in a law firm in Pennsylvania. The Board was impressed with Bruce’s financial acumen and fundraising abilities, 2 skills that the School needed giving continuing enrollment issues. The departure of Drew Smith had been hard for many in the community, and this accelerated the School’s student attrition rate.  Bruce inherited a School struggling to adapt to its smaller size. During this challenging time of transition, the School continued to focus on its core mission, the students. As Bruce wrote about the School in the summer of 2011: “Students feel connected to adults around them who model a passion for learning, who care deeply about the uniqueness of each child, and who understand the delicate balance of work and play.”