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New principals gather to prepare for start of school

Catholic Herald Staff Report

Terri D’Elia, director of the diocesan Office of Human Resources, gives a briefing on hiring policies at a meeting for new principals July 7 at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington. LESLIE MILLER | CATHOLIC HERALD

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New diocesan school principals meeting July 7 at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington are (from left, front row) Darcie Girmus of St. Bernadette School, Springfield; Anthony Sahadi of St. Ann School, Arlington; Amy Fry of St. Anthony of Padua School, Falls Church; Kate Chelak of Blessed Sacrament School, Alexandria; Jeanne Canavan of Our Lady of Hope School, Potomac Falls; (back row) Jen Schiller of St. William of York School, Stafford; and Frank Roque of Bishop O’Connell High School, Arlington. Not shown are Tim Guy, Bishop Ireton High School, Alexandria, and Kristie Meyers, Queen of Apostles School, Alexandria. LESLIE MILLER | CATHOLIC HERALD

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Leslie Lipovsky, assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment (foreground) listens to a presentation at a meeting for new principals July 7 at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington. Shown in the background (from left) are new principals Kate Chelak of Blessed Sacrament School in Alexandria and Jen Schiller of St. William of York School in Stafford. RENEE WHITE | COURTESY

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New school principals hired or promoted recently by the diocesan
Office of Catholic Schools gathered for the annual new principals meeting July
7 at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington.

 

Two new high school principals this school year are Frank Roque
of Bishop O’Connell and Tim Guy of Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria.

 

Seven new parish school principals are Darcie Girmus of St.
Bernadette School, Springfield; Anthony Sahadi of St. Ann School, Arlington;
Amy Fry of St. Anthony of Padua School, Falls Church; Kate Chelak of Blessed
Sacrament School, Alexandria; Jeanne Canavan of Our Lady of Hope School,
Potomac Falls; Jen Schiller of St. William of York School, Stafford, and
Kristie Meyers, Queen of Apostles School, Alexandria.

 

Superintendent Joseph E. Vorbach and assistant superintendents
Diane Elliott, David Lima, Leslie Lipovski and Renee White each gave presentations
on their specialty areas, ranging from accreditation programs and curriculum
assessments to compliance with federal programs, enrollment and marketing.
Lima, former principal of St. William of York School in Stafford, joined the
Office of Catholic Schools in June.

 

Vorbach called the meeting “a very productive gathering of the
new leaders in our diocesan schools. It was an opportunity to connect a
talented and experienced group of Catholic educators as a new cohort of leaders
in our diocese.”

 

He added that the meeting provided “essential information that
will ease their transition and give them opportunities to begin networking with
one another. These collaborative bonds will be essential to overall success in
the coming year.”

 

Terri D’Elia, director of the diocesan Office of Human Resources,
gave a briefing on hiring and human resources policies, and School Health
Coordinator Beth Bostwick spoke about health protocols and the ongoing threat
of COVID-19.

 

“We are coming out of COVID, but not entirely out of it, and our
leaders will still be doing a lot to prepare school communities for the first
year of ‘almost back to normal’,” Vorbach said. 

 

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