When Donald S. Berger arrived at the Cape Fear Academy campus Thursday, a kindergarten student called out to him, “Are you our new headmaster?”

Berger, who will indeed become the school’s head on July 1, 2012, felt suitably welcomed. He was introduced later Thursday at a school assembly and had an opportunity to greet the more than 620 students and 80 faculty members at the private, PreK-12 school.

Berger comes to Cape Fear from Cary Academy in Cary, N.C., where he has been head of school since Cary Academy’s founding in 1996. Before that, he was head of the Upper School at Manlius Pebble Hill School in DeWitt, N.Y. He has a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College in Pennsylvania and a master’s degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Bill Squire, chairman of the school’s board of trustees, said Berger was chosen after a nationwide search. “He has the unique combination of leadership skills and experience to help us continue providing our community with a growing and dynamic college preparatory educational environment,” Squire said.

“Cape Fear Academy is a great school in a great city, a growing, vibrant community,” Berger said. “Since Cary Academy encompasses only grades 6 through 12, I am looking forward to being at a school where I can watch children develop from early on through high school.”

The over-arching goal for Cape Fear Academy, he said, is to continue growing in terms of enrollment and facilities. “We will build on the legacy of (retiring headmaster) John Meehl,” said Berger. “The school has great strength in its reputation and great strength in its facilities.”

Those facilities were enhanced with the recent completion of a new gymnasium/auditorium. Cape Fear is now revamping its old gym into a performing arts center that will house musical and theatrical activities and events.

“The buildings are great, but I am happiest that we have grown up and come of age as a school,” said Meehl, who will retire as of June 30, 2012. “We have a mature curriculum, a mature faculty evaluation process, and a mature board. Cape Fear is one of the top 10 private schools in North Carolina.”