When Tabor Academy’s new headmaster John Quirk takes over this summer, his first order of business will be to win over the students, parents and faculty with open communication.

“I want people in my office talking to me and tell me what’s going on,” Quirk said Friday during "Parents Weekend" at Tabor.  “I think that’s important to cultivate that confidence so that people know they can talk to me.”

Quirk, who is currently the associate head for school affairs at the Brooks School in North Andover, will assume the position of head of school for Tabor on July 1, succeeding headmaster Jay Stroud after 22 years in the position.

“We have an opportunity to build on the incredible, work of the senior administration,” Quirk said. “I’m inheriting a tremendous school and partnering with parents about the things we want to do together is critically important.”

His only concern with taking this job he said is that he may not be able to spend as much time teaching as he would like. Quirk has been a Latin and Greek instructor for the past 25 years and said he will miss being in the classroom and developing connections with the students.

It is those connections with teachers, he said, that greatly benefited his experience in school and nurtured his passion for learning.

Quirk added that he will replace some of what he learned from the students in the classroom with coaching sports and student leadership organizations.

When asked his opinion on having students spend more time in the classrooms, Quirk said that an excitement for learning is critical for students but useless busywork is their enemy.  He said he believes students should have the time to reflect on what they are learning so that they can fully comprehend the material and further their interests in their subjects.

Faculty also benefits from this because, according to Quirk, class time has to be well thought out and teachers need the time to think about what is going on in the classrooms.

“I think schools like this are uniquely positioned,” Quirk said.  “Part of the reason is residential because the adults and kids are living together. This helps them learn personality traits and the value of hard work, responsibility and committed citizenship. You need those things to survive.”

For Stroud, the change at Tabor is bittersweet but Quirk, he said, is the person who best represented the qualities that the school was searching for.

“It’s like handing over one of my own children,” Stroud said.  “But he knows the process. You cannot manufacture the experience of living and learning in a community like this.”