MFS Celebrates the Life of Former Headmaster Alex MacColl

Alexander M. MacColl, Headmaster of Moorestown Friends School from 1969 to 1986, died on Sunday, February 1, 2009 in Massachusetts.

Alex MacColl was a graduate of Germantown Friends School. After Lafayette College, and earning a Master’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania, he joined the faculty of Friends Select School. He became Assistant Headmaster at Select, and directed the school’s summer program.  In 1966 he became Executive Director of the Friends Neighborhood Guild, a settlement house and neighborhood center at 8th and Fairmount in Philadelphia, which was founded in 1879.

Alex MacColl became the fourth Headmaster of Moorestown Friends School following the retirement of Merrill Hiatt (whose predecessors were Chester Reagan, 1925-55, and Elmer Barrett, 1920-25, who presided over the unification of Moorestown’s then two Quaker schools, Friends Academy and Friends High School).  

"Alex was the headmaster during a period of great change both in the nation and at Moorestown Friends,” said Head of School Larry Van Meter, MFS Class of ’68. “He handled those changes with remarkable diligence and hard work, guiding the transition of MFS into a thoroughly modern independent school.”

Former Heads of School (l to r): Clint Wilkins (1987-90), Alex MacColl (1969-86) and Gardiner Bridge (1986-87) during construction of Stokes Hall.

Among the notable accomplishments of the MacColl years were the celebration of the school’s bicentennial in 1986 and the groundbreaking that year for Stokes Hall, part of the school’s Toward Our Third Century capital fundraising campaign. The MFS-Camden Community Scholarship Program (now called the Camden Scholars Program) was a special interest of Alex MacColl’s and his commitment to diversity was a hallmark of his term of service.

The school’s signature Intensive Learning program was established during Alex MacColl’s tenure as were Lower and Middle School “hands-on” educational trips to Mystic Seaport and New Jersey environmental centers.  The Chester Reagan Chair in Faith and Practice, helping to fund a full-time Quaker educator for the school, was also founded during the MacColl headship. 

Alex MacColl with former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean.

 “In his MFS years, 1969 to 1986, Alex MacColl was a visionary administrator, an enthusiastic teacher, and an innovative educator,” said former School Committee Clerk and current emeritus School Committee member Lou Matlack. “Under his leadership, MFS surpassed the challenges of the 1970's, increased enrollment, built Stokes Hall and substantially improved fundraising, as well as significantly increasing faculty and staff salaries. He was a friend to many and will be honored forever.”

He and his first wife Mary Wentworth were the parents of six daughters, Gail MacColl Jarrett (MFS Class of 1972), Carol (1973), Katherine (1975), Pamela (1976) Kim (1980) and Christina (1981).

He later married Cynthia Attix, the mother of alumni Ross (Class of 1970), Craig (1972), Lee (1974) and Lisa (1976).

He spent his post-Moorestown Friends years in Maine and then moved to Massachusetts, to be nearer to several of his daughters.

There will be a memorial service at the Unitarian Church in Northampton, MA on Saturday, February 14 at 11:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, charitable donations may be made to Friends of Children, Inc., 320 Riverside Dr, Northampton, MA 01060 or to Child Abuse Prevention Council of York County, 62 Portland Rd, Suite 15, Kennebunk, ME 04043.

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