Meet Head of School Mike Peller
Mike Peller began his tenure as Head of School at Vermont Academy on July 1, 2025, bringing more than two decades of leadership in purpose-driven education. A passionate advocate for experiential and place-based learning, Mike has helped shape several innovative school models rooted in purpose, engagement, and real-world impact.
Mike’s leadership blends deep expertise in curriculum design with significant experience in advancement, admissions, and institutional strategy. He has participated in successful capital campaigns, enrollment initiatives, and development efforts while also designing pioneering academic programs built on immersive, interdisciplinary, and competency-based learning. His approach is entrepreneurial, rooted in a belief that schools thrive when innovation is matched with mission clarity and community connection.
Before joining Vermont Academy, Mike served as the Founding Head of Upper School at Hillbrook School in California, where he launched a new high school emphasizing immersive learning, community partnerships, and student agency. Prior to that, he was Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning at The White Mountain School in New Hampshire, where he led academic redesigns, founded the Inquiry, Innovation, and Impact Lab, and guided the school’s transition to a competency-based learning model.
Earlier in his career, Mike spent five years at The Nueva School in California as Assistant Head of Upper School, where he helped grow the division from its founding cohort of 77 to more than 400 students. He has also served in site director roles with Global Online Academy and the Mastery Transcript Consortium and is a frequent speaker at national conferences on assessment, innovation, and human-centered learning.
Mike earned his B.A. in Environmental Engineering from Harvard University and his M.A. in Independent School Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia University.
He lives on campus with his family and draws daily inspiration from Vermont Academy’s mission and landscape. A lifelong boarding school educator, Mike grew up on a boarding school campus as the child of two career teachers and school leaders. He is thrilled to raise his own children in a similar environment—where learning, community, and a love of the land are part of daily life.
Vermont Academy is a coed college preparatory boarding and day school in southern Vermont, serving grades 9-12 plus a postgraduate year.
