Head of School

Andrea  is an active member of Lancaster Monthly Meeting. She is an experienced teacher with her M.Ed. from Temple University. Andrea grew up in Philadelphia, attended Greene Street Friends School and Friends Central, as well as public schools. Currently her son attends Westtown and her daughters who thrived at George School and Westtown are in college or recently graduated.

My name is Andrea Paz y Miño Carty. I am a Montessori trained teacher with my Masters in Elementary Education from Temple University. I have taught children from preschool to 6th grade and enjoyed all of those experiences. Having been exposed to public school and Quaker education as a student, I have a deep appreciation for an excellent education with a firm foundation on the core Quaker values. My passion for social justice and my belief in the inherent value of every person is what brought me to Quakerism and what inspires me as first Head of School for Lancaster Friends School.

You can contact Andrea at acarty@lancasterfriends.org. 

My name is Trex Proffitt and I've served as a professor at F&M, Muhlenberg College, Emory University, and the University of California. After a career in higher education, I became a middle school teacher in 2016. My family and I have lived in Lancaster since 2005. My wife works as a house dean at F&M, my daughter is a rising senior at F&M, and my son is entering his first year at Yale.

I love teaching middle school students because their growing brains are as capable as they'll ever be, but they also are young and playful, so they have fun while they learn.

Fun fact: I've walked across a bed of hot coals twice in my life. It was easier than teaching. I'm a level 1 squash coach and have been coaching and organizing squash since 1995.

tproffitt@lancasterfriends.org 

Co-Clerk

Tom Latus has spent most of his adult life working with children and educators in New England and Pennsylvania. After graduation from Yale University in 1972, Tom spent two years of service as a conscientious objector in hospitals in Boston and Hanover, NH. He then embarked on a career in education that spanned 46 years. During that time, he taught school-age children in public and private schools, as well as teachers in graduate school programs. He also served as an educational supervisor and administrator in treatment centers for children with emotional disturbances; as a special education consultant in the Boston area, Tom worked with educators in over 150 school communities. In the thirteen years prior to retiring in 2020, Tom worked as a behavioral specialist in a K-12 charter school In Philadelphia.

In addition to his B.A. from Yale, Tom holds an M.Ed. from Boston University in special education and an Ed.D. from Harvard University in teaching & learning. He taught in masters level programs in the Boston area at Lesley University, Wheelock College, and Harvard Graduate School of Education, as well as Penn State University/Harrisburg.

Tom joined the Society of Friends in 1985 and became a member of Lancaster Monthly Meeting in 2006. In June 2015, Tom married Sanford Hyson—his partner since 2000—under the care of Lancaster Monthly meeting. They live in Lancaster Township.

David has been involved in Friends education for 27 years working at Germantown Friends School, Penn Charter, and Plymouth Meeting Friends School.  He was the founding Head of Charlotte Friends School in Charlotte, NC, and, along with his wife, Karen, has worked for the past 15 years with the Bududa Learning Center, a vocational school program in eastern Uganda that has been supported by the Quaker-led African Great Lakes Initiative. His son, Derek, graduated from Germantown Friends in 2012.

Greg is an active member of Lancaster Monthly Meeting and a conscientious objector.  He is an attorney whose practice has focused on the representation of indigent persons and civil rights.  He has served as the Chair of the Lancaster City Human Relations Commission and as adjunct faculty member at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology and Reading Area Community College.  He is an active member of the NAACP of Lancaster County.

Mary Cae Williams holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Franklin and Marshall College and a Master of Education degree from Millersville University. She is also credentialed as a Montessori teacher for ages 6-12. Mary Cae was a founding member of The New School of Lancaster (now New School Montessori.) She taught ages 6-9 and 9-12 from 1990 to 2003. From 2003 to 2017 she served there as the Head of School. Mary Cae retired in 2017 and has served on several boards since then: Stone Independent School, Lancaster Italian Cultural Society, Lancaster Shakespeare Theatre (formerly The People’s Shakespeare Project,) and Lancaster Downtowners. 

“Sarah has been a lifelong Quaker and was raised in Kennett Friends Monthly Meeting. She is now a Lancaster City resident and attender of Lancaster Friends Meeting. Sarah graduated from The College of Wooster in 2022 with a B.A in Biology and Education. She is currently in a masters of Biology program at the University of Nebraska. 

After graduating college, Sarah moved to Stockholm, Sweden with her husband, Rowan, to teach science. In 2024, she moved back home to Lancaster and now teaches at Manheim Township High School. In August of 2025, Sarah joined the Lancaster Friends school committee to help build up this excellent community!”

Penny graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.S. in science and a certificate of Dental Hygiene.  After working in private practice a few years, she taught at Kalamazoo Valley Community College (Kalamazoo, Michigan) in their dental hygiene program.  While in Kalamazoo, she completed a master’s degree in Teacher Education: Audio-Visual Media/Instructional Design from Western Michigan University.  She continued her dental hygiene teaching career at the University of Kentucky and the University of Pennsylvania. 

After some self-reflection, she discovered that she loved education, but not so much dental health.  She returned to Western Michigan University and completed a Master’s in Educational Leadership:  Human Resource Development. 

She spent the rest of her career designing, developing, and implementing employee training classes and programs for businesses.  Her last job, before semi-retiring, was at a Vocational Education School for Adults with Disabilities in Plainwell, Michigan.  She partnered with the industrial instructors (the subject matter experts) to design and develop their curriculum and lesson plans.  As an Administrator, she managed and facilitated the continuous improvement process, strategic planning, and the accreditation process for both the educational and rehabilitation side of the school. 

Penny believes that life is a spiritual journey, and everyone is Divine. She has studied all the major religions with the intent of finding her own truth and who she really is.  She is delighted to find the Quakers and their pursuit of Simplicity, Peace, Integrity, Community, Equality, and Stewardship.  She attends the Lancaster Friends Meeting and is learning all about Quakerism.