Gunston School welcomes Chesapeake Watershed Semester director

CENTREVILLE — The Gunston School has announced the appointment of Brad Hirsh as Gunston’s new director of the Chesapeake Watershed Semester and sustainability.

In this role, Hirsh will be responsible for leading one of the nation’s most innovative college preparatory environmental education programs, the school said in a press release.

Gunston’s Chesapeake Watershed Semester is a unique opportunity for highly motivated high school students in 11th and 12th grades to immerse themselves in the study and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay for one semester.

Through dynamic and diverse field-study expeditions, students travel the region meeting with stakeholders and conducting research. From the school’s waterfront campus, students take honors and AP-level classes while maintaining an intense, hands-on engagement with the natural environment.

“Next year will be the sixth year of CWS, and we look forward to the program’s continued growth and development,” said Head of School John Lewis.

Hirsh has a remarkable range of teaching, program leadership and environmental education experience.

Since 2019, he has served as a program director at Sultana Education Foundation in Chestertown, where he developed a number of new programs, expanded grant support, managed significant equipment inventory and, notably, has been directly involved with Gunston students through its CWS and Bay Studies programs.

Before Sultana, he served in multiple teaching and leadership positions at independent schools in Pennsylvania and Nevada, as well as at Echo Hill Outdoor School.

A graduate of St. Andrew’s School and Bard College, Hirsh is a native of Kent County and possesses a deep knowledge of the ecology and culture of the Chesapeake Bay. He is well-positioned to lead CWS, as well as Gunston’s Chesapeake Bay Studies program and various other campus sustainability efforts.

In his application, Hirsh said, “The potential of working with students and teachers interested in the history, ecology, literature, and politics of the Chesapeake Bay thrills me. As a child growing up on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, I took for granted the natural wonder that was all around me. Only after exploring the rest of the country and then returning to the Eastern Shore as an adult and professional did I realize the uniqueness of my childhood home. I believe that Gunston is creating a space for students to experience the wonders of the Chesapeake Bay and not take those wonders for granted like I did, and I would be honored to be a part of that process.”