Welcome to The Frederick Gunn School!
As I look toward the coming years, what I see is that there is no boarding school in the world more sincerely focused on the future of education than The Frederick Gunn School, while remaining true to our founding ideals. What we stand for is rare and beautiful. We believe that the world needs us to be people who are always learning, not fixed in our mindsets but open, striving to understand ourselves and others. We believe that high school students have incredible capacity to learn about themselves, how they best learn and grow, to investigate what they care most about in the world, and to set themselves on a path towards innovative, civic-minded impact in the world. We believe in fun and rest as essential to living a well and happy life. We understand that competition and risk-taking build our determination and resilience. We accept that no community can exist without a bedrock of trust, and so we commit ourselves to building trusting relationships between students and teachers. This kind of earnest idealism is hard to find, but it was all laid out for us when Frederick and Abigail Gunn set themselves the task of putting into place what they called “an ideal of a school.”
Small Boarding School Proposition
Adaptively Embracing Technology
Knowing Our Students
Partnering with Purpose
If you want to understand what commitment to seeing our founding values brought up to 21st century standards looks like, we have been gifted this embodiment in the Lizzie and Jonathan Tisch Center for Innovation and Active Citizenship. With “The Lizzie,” our academic spaces on campus will clearly rival any school in the country. This building is the new hub between the Quad, Bourne, and the Glade, and it activates a greenway from the new upper parking lot down through the Quad and across to the athletic campus.
We work hard, compete fiercely, and have a lot of fun. This is what it means to have the heart of a Highlander.
It is our students who drive our ambitious focus on the future. Highlanders are incredible kids. They are open-minded and openhearted, and they are looking to be a force for good in the world. When they are on the field, they represent Gunn with pride, fair play, and grit. On the stage, they lead with heart. In our classrooms, they are explorers.
Our students are amazing not because they are perfect, but because they are capable and committed, and that’s what we are all here for. We are a school that cultivates confident and caring young adults to thrive as innovative, active citizens. We are a community built on the belief that trust between students and teachers cultivates a life of learning and strength of character. We work hard, compete fiercely, and have a lot of fun. This is what it means to have the heart of a Highlander If you have not been to campus, please schedule a visit. We hope you see yourself here.
Always learning,
Dr. Emily Raudenbush Gum
About Dr. Emily Raudenbush Gum
Emily Raudenbush Gum, D.Phil., has served as The Frederick Gunn School’s 12th Head of School since 2023. In the fall of 2025, Dr. Raudenbush Gum was named the Bretter Family Head of School through a generous, $5 million commitment to the endowment from Trustee Emeritus Leo Bretter ’52 P’88.
Dr. Raudenbush Gum is the first Head of School in Gunn’s 175-year history to be awarded a doctoral degree during their tenure, having completed a Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) in Theology and Religion from the University of Oxford. This is the highest degree awarded by the university, equivalent to a Ph.D. Dr. Raudenbush Gum finalized her thesis, “The Place of Identity Formation in the Education of Children,” in the fall of 2025 at Oriel College, one of Oxford’s oldest colleges. An alumna of The Hill School, Dr. Raudenbush Gum earned a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Theology and Religion from the University of Oxford, graduating with distinction. She received a prestigious Joint Honours Master of Arts degree in International Relations and Theological Studies from the University of St Andrews. Prior to joining The Frederick Gunn School, Dr. Raudenbush Gum served in several leadership roles with the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture (IASC) at the University of Virginia and its affiliate foundations over a 13-year period, including as the Managing Editor for the award-winning independent journal, The Hedgehog Review, and as Executive Director of the nonprofit New City Commons Foundation.
In her first two years as Head of School, Dr. Raudenbush Gum raised over $30 million in support of The Campaign for The Frederick Gunn School. This remarkable achievement helped to propel what started as an ambitious, $75 million campaign for the future of Gunn into the most transformative campaign in school history, closing at over $120 million. At the same time, Dr. Raudenbush Gum’s vision for the school’s 175th anniversary turned a milestone celebration into an opportunity to activate our heritage in new ways as expressed by a new Highlander mascot and official Frederick Gunn School Tartan.
Working with the Board of Trustees, Dr. Raudenbush Gum has helped to refine the school’s mission to recenter the school on Frederick Gunn, his values and ideals. Under her leadership, the school has continued to align its programs with the vision of our founders, current research, and best practices. These transformational impacts began during her tenure as Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning, when the school defined Mr. Gunn’s educational philosophy for the 21st century as four pillars — Learning Yourself and How To Learn; Risk-taking and Innovation; A Sense of Rootedness and Place; and Public Character and Active Citizenship.
Dr. Raudenbush Gum and her husband, Wheeler, are the proud parents of two young children, Hezze and George.