New leader takes the reins at Peconic Community School
Peconic Community School in Cutchogue has named a leader as it prepares for its first full academic year at its recently purchased campus.
Longtime educator Rachel Gomez Peterson began her tenure July 1, succeeding Kathryn Casey Quigley and her sister, Liz Casey. Ms. Quigley announced last December that she plans to run for Suffolk County Democratic Committee chair, while Ms. Casey now serves as the school’s director of growth and culture.
“I see my role as supporting and strengthening the great work already happening at PCS by listening carefully, building relationships, and helping the school grow while staying true to its mission, values, and culture,” Ms. Peterson said in a release. “While the Head of School role provides a clear point of leadership and accountability, leadership at PCS will remain highly collaborative as we continue to grow and evolve.”
Ms. Peterson has worked at several independent schools across the country. She spent two years as a history teacher at The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, two years as an academic advisor at Choate Rosemary Hall in Connecticut, four years as a social studies teacher at Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn and five years as director of service learning at Friends Seminary in Manhattan.
She also spent 10 years at the Paideia School in Atlanta, including six as dean of students, before serving for the past two years as the equity and inclusion integrator at The Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn.
Ms. Peterson also brings a personal connection to the North Fork, where her parents live and where she and her husband were married.
She said her first year in the role will be focused on listening, learning and building trust. Throughout the year, she said, the school will celebrate what makes PCS unique, identify its opportunities and challenges and begin shaping a shared vision for the future while moving “at the speed of trust.”
The independent school purchased Sacred Heart Church in Cutchogue for $2.85 million last December, securing what school leaders then called its “forever home.” The deal for the 10.2-acre historic site included the school building, church, rectory, carriage house and five acres of land.
“Education is facing a complex moment: declining enrollment across all schools, shifting family expectations, rapid technological change, and important questions about what young people need to thrive in the future,” she said. “In an educational landscape this complex, PCS is a rare place; it is a school with a clear sense of purpose, a deep commitment to children, and a community that genuinely lives its values.
“I was drawn to the opportunity to help steward something special while working alongside a community that believes education can make the world a better place.”
