Diocesan High Schools moving to collaborative leadership model

Applications being accepted for new position of Associate Superintendent of Secondary Schools

May 10, 2018, WORCESTER, MA - The Catholic Schools Office has announced that it is seeking to fill a new position in the Diocese of Worcester, Associate Superintendent of Secondary Schools. The person will work directly with the three Central Catholic High Schools in the Diocese, namely Holy Name, St. Bernard, and St. Peter-Marian, eliminating the need for a separate headmaster or president. The goal of the new position is to foster a more system-wide approach to diocesan Catholic secondary education in order to optimize performance across the three secondary schools while simultaneously improving operational efficiency. While this new position oversees operations at all three schools, this does not involve a merger of the schools. The three schools will continue to operate with individual principals and staff, as well as maintain a niche character which reflects the charisms of their founding religious communities, including the Sisters of St. Anne, the Sisters of St. Joseph, the Sisters of Mercy, and the Presentation Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“These are exciting times for Catholic Education and this new position embodies where we are going as a Diocese,” said Dr. David Perda, Superintendent of Catholic Schools. “The old model entailed each school operating more as an independent silo, while they all shared in their Catholic identity and strong academic performance. We cannot grow today and in the future if we continue to be seen as competing with one another beyond the athletic field.  We must find ways to operate more as a system. This position is a significant first step in accomplishing that goal.”

“Conceptually we have a similar situation in parishes which share a pastor,” Bishop Robert McManus observed. “The parishes maintain their unique canonical status while the parishes benefit from not only sharing the pastor, but also from a proven approach to leadership and prudent operations.”

Some concrete examples of this new approach include responsibility for developing systems for regularly evaluating programs and/or projects for the purpose of assessing effectiveness, fidelity of implementation and operational efficiency; developing systems for effectively monitoring budget allocations, expenditures and related financial activities in collaboration with the diocesan Associate Superintendent of Business; and establishing and maintaining productive partnerships with a variety of external organizations engaged in the support of Catholic education, particularly at the secondary level.

The new position has been posted on various education job sites including School Spring, TopSchoolJobs, the National Catholic Education Association, and the Alliance for Catholic Education and is generating substantial interest from both internal and external candidates, according to Dr. Perda. The goal is to implement the new role at the conclusion of this current school year ending June 30, 2018.

There are currently 1129 students being served by the three diocesan Central Catholic schools which would report to this new Associate Superintendent.

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