 |
|
|
Catholic Schools Office adds second associate superintendent
By John Gleason
 |
For the past eight years Mary Cohen has spent the first day of school walking the halls of St. Mary Catholic School in Littleton, welcoming back students from their summer vacation.
But this month Cohen will assume new duties as associate superintendent of Catholic schools for the Archdiocese of Denver.
Associate Superintendent Sister Elizabeth Youngs, S.C.L., who has served as such for a decade, will continue in that capacity as well.
“Having two assistant superintendents is an idea that’s been talked about for some time now,” Sister Youngs explained. “It will allow the office to better serve the schools of the Archdiocese of Denver.”
Cohen said she’s looking forward to her new duties.
“I’ve been keeping busy learning everything about this job,” she said, “because starting August 22 (the first day of school) I get the feeling the phone will be ringing a lot.”
Cohen said her focus will be to help Superintendent Richard Thompson in his mission to provide leadership to the archdiocese’s Catholic schools. Specifically, she’ll serve as a contact for school principals—advising and assisting them in their duties.
“(My job) will include whatever special projects the superintendent might have,” she said, “anything from reviewing and writing curricula to overseeing conferences.”
A self-described military brat, Cohen has lived in Denver most of her life. She and her husband Jeremy have one child. Cohen studied political science at the University of Colorado with an eye toward law school but decided she wanted to go into education instead.
“I wanted to be useful and of service to people—to change their lives,” she said. “Education is a powerful tool to do just that and I discerned it was the course for me.”
Cohen taught fifth grade at St. Vincent de Paul School in Denver then was assistant principal at Sts. Peter and Paul School in Wheat Ridge for a year before taking over the principal’s job at St. Mary’s. She said she takes many fond memories from her previous roles.
“I loved being in the classroom, but sometimes it can be a bit of a limited view,” she said. “As principal I got to work with children from the age of 3 all the way up to 14—that was wonderful.”
A principal is only as good as the people around her, Cohen said, adding that she’ll miss the teachers and staff who were her support the last eight years.
“I was blessed with a wonderful faculty and learned a good deal from them,” she said. “So … taking on this new job is both exciting and bittersweet.”
Working at “the central office” will be significantly different from the principal’s chair, Cohen said.
“I’m looking forward to the challenges that face all our schools,” she said, mentioning “the maintenance of Catholic education in the archdiocese and the sustainability of our schools.”
Her goal?
“Making sure (our schools) are truly enlivened by the Holy Spirit and Church teaching,” she said, “and that we bring children to truth and beauty every day and inspire our mission in our principals and teachers.”
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||