STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — The Archdiocese of New York has chosen a new superintendent of Catholic schools, according to an announcement Monday from Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York.
Sister Mary Grace Walsh, ASCJ (Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus), Ph.D., will serve as the next superintendent, succeeding Michael J. Deegan, who will retire from the role at the end of the current academic year. This means that Walsh will officially take on the role on Sept. 1.
“Sister Mary Grace is no stranger to the Archdiocese of New York,” said Deegan in the announcement. “A member of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a religious congregation of women with a particular devotion to education, she has served in the archdiocese as both a teacher and principal in our Catholic schools, as well as receiving a Ph.D. in Educational Administration/Church Leadership from Fordham University.”
She has also served as provost for education, evangelization and catechesis for the Archdiocese of Hartford in Connecticut. Prior to that, she was superintendent of schools and secretary of education and faith formation for the Diocese of Bridgeport, also in Connecticut.
Currently, Walsh is president of Cor Jesu Academy in Saint Louis, Mo., a member of the board of directors of the National Catholic Educational Association, and a trustee of foundations in education. She is a provincial councilor for her religious community and serves as a director on all of its corporate boards, according to Dolan.
She told Dolan she looks forward to serving in the Archdiocese of New York and “to working with the priests and pastors, the many dedicated teachers, principals, and staff in the schools, the benefactors who do so much to keep them running, and, most especially, the parents and students, all to give our young people an outstanding academic and spiritual formation, and a future full of hope.”
Deegan, who has served as superintendent for nearly five years, will retire effective Aug. 31, 2023. He has more than 50 years of service in the Catholic school system as a teacher, principal, associate superintendent, deputy superintendent and superintendent.
“I am so very grateful to Cardinal Dolan for entrusting me with the care and stewardship of this great Catholic school system, which gave me so much as a student, as a young man and ultimately as a Catholic educator for half a century,” said Deegan in December, when he announced his retirement. “I often speak of ‘the mission of Catholic education.’ Perhaps for the past 50 years mine has been a mission to give back. Even though I was ultimately destined to lead the entire Catholic school system, in my heart, I never really left the classroom. I’ll always be a Catholic school teacher.”
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