Brad Choyt

The North Yarmouth Academy (NYA) Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the appointment of Brad Choyt (New York, NY) as NYA’s new Headmaster effective July 1, 2011. Mr. Choyt’s appointment is the result of an extensive nationwide search involving the entire NYA community. Both a Search Committee, chaired by board member Priscilla Savage and parent Patty Bright, and an Advisory Committee, chaired by parent David Daigler and Dean of Students and Upper School English teacher Mike Gengras, were formed to guide the selection process. “We are thrilled that Brad will be coming to NYA as our new Headmaster. We feel he will be a great fit for the school, and we are eager for Brad and his family to become part of our community,” said Richard Abbondanza, president of NYA’s Board of Trustees. 

Choyt is a native of New Hampshire and a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy. He holds degrees from Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania. Choyt has seventeen years of independent school and nonprofit experience, including work with pre-kindergarten-8th grade, 9th-12th grade, co-educational, single-sex, boarding and day schools in the United States and abroad. In each of these environments, he has devoted his professional life to expanding and refining students’ relationship to learning.  On his appointment, Choyt stated, “I am overjoyed to serve NYA as its next Headmaster and to join students, parents, teachers, staff and Board members in supporting the Academy’s mission to make learning the richest possible experience in the classrooms, on the playing fields, and in the performance halls.”

Choyt began his teaching career as a faculty member at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut.  He also served as an arts and humanities teacher and as an associate chaplain at St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire.   Choyt was the first Director of Education at the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City, a museum that specializes in Himalayan art and culture. He was next appointed as the Founding Director of Green School in Bali, Indonesia, a school devoted to sustainable practices in education. Choyt is the current Head of School at Blue School, a school that focuses on developing its students’ innate creativity through strong academic and artistic offerings.  While there, he helped Blue School expand from 60 children to its present enrollment of more than150 students from all over New York City. 

Choyt also brings to NYA a love of experiential education, a practice to which he’s been dedicated since 1995. For several years, he organized and led educational immersion programs for high-school students and teachers in India, Nepal and Tibet. He is also the co-founder of Global Learning Across Borders (Global LAB), a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring the current generation of students to become responsible and committed global citizens.

He and his wife, Charlotte Bacon, a writer, have three children—Toby, Thea and Isaiah—and they are all delighted to be relocating to the Maine coast. 

Choyt follows NYA’s current Headmaster, Peter W. Mertz, who has been at the school for ten years and will leave a legacy of growth and expansion. “Our reputation as an academic institution of excellence has grown under Peter’s leadership, and the public recognition of the quality of our school is a tribute to his hard work, character and success. The NYA community is grateful for all that Peter has achieved on our behalf,” said Abbondanza. 

North Yarmouth Academy is an independent, college preparatory, coeducational day school serving students in grades five through twelve. NYA is dedicated to fostering integrity, character and intellect in young adults. For more information, please contact NYA at 207-847-5423 or visit our website at www.NYA.org.