Download a PDF
Dear SYA Family,
Today I write to you with mixed emotions to share that the 2025–2026 academic year will be my last as School Year Abroad’s (SYA) President. Next year will mark my tenth overseeing this vibrant and life-changing program. It has been life-changing for me as well, and it is time, both professionally and personally, to hand SYA over to a new leader.
Back in 2015 when I was retiring as Principal of Phillips Exeter Academy, then chair of the SYA Board of Trustees, Ken Krushel ES’68, approached me about this leadership opportunity. Given Exeter’s status as one of SYA’s founding schools, I knew a great many students and colleagues whose lives had been positively impacted by immersion in a different culture and language through SYA. As a working-class high school and college student, it was not something I had ever envisioned experiencing for myself. This was finally my opportunity to do so. Throughout the past decade SYA has provided me with a most rewarding job and a unique window on the world that I could never have imagined.
In my earliest SYA years, we launched significant curriculum reform. We offered enhanced opportunities for students to expand their learning environment by using the local areas as classrooms. We also asked students to employ their increasing language skills on capstone projects of their choosing. Together with a highly engaged leadership team and trustee group, we were able to define a bold strategic plan and raise the funding to support its recommendations. Chief among them were calls to increase the student financial aid pool and grow our endowment. Leadership is not without its difficulties, and in my case, the COVID-19 pandemic posed many challenges. We evacuated students, continued with online learning and restarted SYA after a year’s closure.
Running SYA takes an incredible group of dedicated individuals, and I have been blessed with so many over the years in all positions: the Resident Directors who work endlessly and so effectively for their students and colleagues; the teams at each campus whose love and support for students is evident every day; the trustees who guide us with vision and skill and set the highest bar of collaboration; my cherished colleagues in the Home Office who work tirelessly with dedication and good humor. I will miss them all dearly.
Today, SYA is in an extraordinary position, as the group of outside evaluators from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) recently affirmed in their reaccreditation report. I know, however, that great schools need fresh leadership to continue their evolution and ongoing excellence. Therefore, The SYA Board of Trustees will organize and execute a thorough search for my successor during the next 17 months.
Personally, after almost 50 years working with high school students, it is time for me to think about other pursuits, including spending more time enjoying the work of my wife, Maggie, on Capitol Hill and continuing the care of my son, Ben.
I will remain fully engaged with SYA until June 30, 2026, continuing to help provide this unique and immersive experience for high school students and facilitating a smooth leadership transition to my successor. This great institution will surely continue to grow and evolve, and I have been honored and privileged to have played a part in our 60-year history.
Sincerely,
Tom Hassan
President, SYA
