Baltimore native Lila B. Lohr, who has been serving as interim head of Friends School in North Baltimore since July 1, has been named the new head of school, effective immediately.

Lohr, 57, a veteran educator with more than three decades of private school experience, has spent most of that time in Baltimore area schools, including the Bryn Mawr School in North Baltimore and St. Paul's School for Girls in Brooklandville.

"I feel that this is a good fit," Lohr said yesterday after her appointment was announced. "It's a wonderful place to work, where there is a sense of community and camaraderie."

Lohr said there is a clear road map in place at the school, which has just been reaccredited by the Association of Independent Maryland Schools. She also is overseeing the construction of an alumni center on campus and will be helping with a capital campaign in the near future.

"I want to build a school community that functions more as one school," she said. "This is an issue in every school that has prekindergarten through 12th grades."

The school has three divisions, the lower, middle and upper schools, and she wants to structure activities and school events where older students can mentor younger ones.

J. Kevin Carnell, chairman of the school's board of trustees, called Lohr a "proven leader and a capable administrator. She was doing a great job as the interim head of school," he said.

A national search for a new head of school ended Tuesday night when the school's board of trustees approved converting Lohr's one-year interim contract into a three-year contract. The contract runs through June 2005.

Carnell said that faculty, students, alumni, parents and the board of trustees supported Lohr after she decided she would be a candidate.

"There was a clear preference to keep Lila in the job," he said.

Lohr graduated from Garrison Forest School in Owings Mills, then earned her bachelor's degree from Vassar College and a master's in education from Goucher College.

She was head of Princeton Day School, a coeducational private school in New Jersey, for five years after serving as headmistress of St. Paul's School for Girls for nine years. She also was a longtime teacher and administrator at Bryn Mawr.

Lohr has written a book on education and school leadership as well as numerous articles on education.

Lohr is the second interim head of an area school to be named this month to the post permanently. Thomas J. Reid was named headmaster at St. Paul's School this month after serving four months as interim head.