Date: February 14, 2020
To: All Faculty, staff, students and school families
Fr: David Perda, Ph.D, Superintendent of Schools
As students, teachers and staff prepare to head out for a well-earned winter break, I want to share some updates with everyone regarding our high school merger planning process.
Leadership Positions:
Over the past two weeks, we have engaged in the review of applicants for several administrative positions at the new high school. My senior administrative team in the Catholic Schools Office conducted the review of candidates for the assistant principal for ministry, assistant principal for student life and athletic director. Our team was joined by Diocesan Catholic School Board members for the review of candidates for the position of principal.
The following staffing recommendations for the new high school have been accepted by Bishop McManus:
Mr. Michael Clark will be the Head of School and Acting Principal for the fall semester. As many of you know, Mr. Clark has been the Head of School for both schools for the past two years. He will have primary responsibility over the school’s curricular program and day-to-day operations, including staffing and budgeting.
Ms. Sandra Pollette will be the Assistant Principal for Ministry. Ms. Pollette is currently the Assistant Principal for Student Life at Holy Name. Reporting to the Head of School, Ms. Pollette will provide leadership in the design, development and implementation of all ministry and formation initiatives for the school community.
Mr. Timothy St. John will be the Assistant Principal for Student Life. Mr. St. John is the current Assistant Principal for Student Life at St. Peter-Marian. Reporting to the Head of School, he will provide leadership in all aspects of student life and extra-curricular programming for grades 7 – 12.
Mr. James Manzello has been named the new school’s Athletic Director. He is currently the athletic director for Holy Name. He will immediately begin working on defining the athletic schedule for the fall and lining up the coaching staff for the new school. The Athletic Director will report to the Head of School and provide leadership on all school physical education, recreational and competitive athletic programming for grades 7-12.
The Principal Selection Committee has recommended that the search for the principal’s position be opened up to applicants from outside the current school system. Bishop McManus accepted the committee’s recommendation to broaden the search and to appoint Mr. Clark as acting principal for the transition.
Site Selection:
A Building Review Committee has been tasked with developing a recommendation for Bishop McManus. The committee has expertise in construction, building maintenance, real estate, finances and business management. As of today, all data required to make a decision on site selection has been provided to the committee. That decision is still on track for early March.
When students, teachers and staff return from vacation, Meltier and Associates, our Catholic education consultants, will be visiting both schools to talk with faculty, staff and student groups for additional input.
As a closing thought, I want to give a big shout out of encouragement to the 22 students from both schools who have been coming together to help articulate the exciting future for this new school. They recently made an impromptu appearance at a basketball game and will be posting a video interview with members of their team on our social media sites. Hats off to the students at both schools for seizing this moment to help lead the way!
My prayers go with you as you leave for vacation and we look forward to seeing everyone return safely and well-rested.