13th Annual Catholic Schools Principals' Institute Hosted by St. John's University on June 29

June 23, 2011

Most Rev. David O'Connell, 10th Bishop of Trenton to Serve as Keynote Speaker

St. John’s will host the 13th annual Catholic Schools Principals’ Institute at the University’s D’Angelo Center located at its Queens campus on Wednesday, June 29, sponsored by William H. Sadlier, Inc. and St. John’s University’s School of Education.

Most Reverend David O’Connell, C.M., J.C.D., Bishop of Trenton, will highlight the Institute guest panel and give the keynote address, and Sr. Carol Cimino SSJ, Ed.D. will serve as speaker and panel moderator.

Principals of elementary and high schools in the New York Metropolitan Area and Upstate New York will be in attendance for this half-day discussion on important ethics, topics and practices that principals face in Catholic Education today. The annual event is free of charge to all participating principals.

“We (members of the board of the annual Catholic School Principal’s Executive Leadership Institute) have known a great many people whose interest in, and enthusiasm for, Catholic education is expressed openly and warmly. To enable this annual event to take place at St. John’s with participation from more than 115 principals with no fees attached is without parallel in the New York region,” said Jerrold Ross, Dean of St. John’s University’s School of Education. “We are proud to partner with, and owe a great deal of gratitude to, Frank Sadlier Dinger and his personal support and inspiration of work as a catalyst to bring to the forefront current challenges on behalf of Catholic education in today’s society.”

Bishop O’Connell’s keynote speech will kick things off at St. John’s ’state of the art D’Angelo Center facility at 9:45 a.m. followed by Sr. Cimino’s talk on “The Principal as Entrepreneur in the 21st Century.” A panel discussion will close the festivities followed by a luncheon for all participants.

On June 4, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Father O’Connell as Coadjutor Bishop of the Diocese of Trenton. He was ordained to the episcopacy on July 30, 2010, and became the 10th Bishop of Trenton succeeding Bishop John M. Smith. In 1998, Father O’Connell was named 14th president of The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and served in that position until his resignation in 2010.

Carol Cimino is a Sister of St. Joseph of Rochester, and currently serves as a national consultant for William H. Sadlier Inc. She has been a teacher and an administrator on all levels of Catholic education and was a development director for three Catholic high schools.

In addition, she co-directs the Institute in Catholic Identity at Manhattan College in New York City, and served for 17 years as the Executive Director of the Catholic School Administrators Association of New York State and, in that capacity, developed a myriad of innovative initiatives in the area of Catholic education.

For more information about the 13th Annual Catholic Schools Principals’ Institute contact Madeline Larsen at (718) 990-2577 or e-mail inquiries to larsenm@stjohns.edu.

Media interested in covering the conference can contact Dominic Scianna, Assistant Vice President for Media Relations by calling (718) 990-6185 or e-mail inquiries to sciannad@stjohns.edu.