Manlius Pebble Hill names new school leader

DEWITT, NY – Manlius Pebble Hill School has appointed a new Head of School, who takes office July 1.

David J. McCusker Jr. previously worked at the Cardigan Moutain School in Canaan, New Hampshire. He was head of school there for nine years, and then served as director of advancement for School Year Abroad. The boarding and day school is for boys in grades 6 through 9.

McCusker helped increase enrollment at Cardigan Mountain and enhanced its financial stability, MPH officials said. He also helped complete a $50 million capital campaign, the largest in the school’s history.

Prior to his tenure at Cardigan, McCusker served as director of development at St. Paul’s School in New Hampshire and The Park School in Massachusetts.

McCusker is a graduate of two of the schools he has served, Cardigan Mountain and St. Paul’s, and he received a bachelor’s degree in history from Dartmouth College.

“I am thrilled to be joining a school community that so clearly takes its academic program seriously, engenders an enthusiasm for learning, embraces diversity and inclusion, and fosters a culture of kindness” he said in a news release.

Jim Dunaway, who has been MPH’s Head of School since 2015 , is retiring in June.