Bishop Canevin High School is adopting a new leadership model that better aligns with other Pittsburgh Diocesan high schools and helps the school better pursue its mission, school leaders announced.
The Catholic college preparatory school, which opened in the fall of 1959, will move to a president/principal leadership model, effective by the end of the current school year.
A search is under way to fill both positions.
Until now, the school’s principal served as its primary leader.
According to information provided by the school, the president will oversee budgeting, facility needs, capital campaigns, grant opportunities and more, while the principal will focus on the educational aspects of school operations and building relationships with faculty, staff, students and families.
This isn’t the first time Bishop Canevin has implemented the president/principal leadership model. According to the school’s website, the school’s board of directors petitioned the diocese to adopt such a structure in July 2012 and the diocese approved. Kenneth Sinagra was named the school’s first president and Karen Walker was selected as the new principal.
But after three years, the board and administration agreed to return to the previous structure, with Sinagra serving as principal and Walker serving as assistant principal.
Most recently, the leadership responsibilities were assigned to the school’s principal, Michael Joyce. But according to the school’s website, Joyce left his position at the start of the current school year.
Three people – Dale Checketts, the athletic/activities director; Sean Murray, the academic success coordinator; and Michael Palcsey, assistant principal of Catholic identity – have served as interim administrators.
Joseph Milharcic, executive director for advancement and business operations, said that the school’s commitment to serving as a community partner, educating young people and espousing its Catholic faith won’t waver in the transition to the new leadership structure.
Milharcic said he and the board thank the families who’ve been with the school through the leadership changes.
“Our community is ever-changing, and we believe these new leadership opportunities will set a positive and exciting future for our school,” he said.
Bishop Canevin, which is celebrating its 65th anniversary of service to 18 school districts, is named after Archbishop John Francis Regis Canevin, the fifth bishop of Pittsburgh and the first native Pittsburgher to serve as bishop.
To learn more about the school, an Open House will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26. To learn more and register, visit www.bishopcanevin.org or call 412-922-7400.
On July 2012, the Board of Directors petitioned the diocese to move to a new administrative structure for Bishop Canevin utilizing the president/principal model. The Board further indicated their choice of Mr. Kenneth Sinagra to be the selected president. The diocese approved the recommendation and Mr. Sinagra was selected as the first President of Bishop Canevin. Simultaneously, Mrs. Karen Walker was selected as the new principal, the first female principal in the school’s history. In the 2012-13 school year, the Board of Directors would undertake an in-depth long-range planning project.
One of the first actions of the administration, faculty, and Board of Directors was to approve a new Mission Statement, Philosophy and Grad-at-Grad foundational documents that outlined an alignment with the Ignatian Spirituality and Pedagogy, promulgated in high schools and universities operated by the Society of Jesus. For the 2015-16 school year, the Board of Directors and administration agreed that going forward, the school and its students would be best served by returning to its previous administrative structure led by Mr. Sinagra as principal and Mrs. Walker as assistant principal.
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