Photo Caption: Dr. Sharon Weiss settles into her new office in the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria.

By: By Jennifer Willems

As a longtime principal at St. Patrick’s School in Washington, Sharon Weiss is used to wearing many hats. That will serve her well as the new superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Peoria — especially since she will continue as principal at St. Patrick’s through Christmas.

Doing double duty won’t stop her from getting out to visit the diocese’s five high schools, 37 elementary schools and two academies enrolling students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade, however.

“When I’ve gone out on visits with the Catholic Schools Office either for principal evaluations or the school evaluations, I am so proud. I really am. I’m so pleased with what we have,” Dr. Weiss told The Catholic Post.

“I want to make sure the leadership understands that, that they’re doing a great good,” she said of her fellow principals. “They need to hear that over and over and over.”

Dr. Weiss succeeds Brother William Dygert, CSC, who served as superintendent from 2005 until June 1 of this year. Her appointment, announced June 19 by Patricia Gibson, chancellor and director of the curia for the Diocese of Peoria, was effective July 1.

Dr. Weiss had words of praise for her predecessor, who has returned to his religious community at the University of Notre Dame.

“I was always very supportive of Brother William and his vision and I think he has brought the schools up to a very high standard,” she said. “The diocese has a very, very fine system of schools.”

That’s important because Catholic schools serve as the evangelizing arm of the church, she said.

A SAVING MISSION
“I believe our mission is twofold: faith formation and academic excellence. It is a saving mission — it’s salvific in its very nature,” Dr. Weiss explained. “I believe that our schools should be places where our children serve and know Christ, and love him.”

In order to help the principals bring their students closer to Christ, she hopes to do a needs assessment very soon. Noting that she won’t be able to address every issue that might be raised, she said it would help with things like professional development for school staffs and meeting the ever-present financial challenges Catholic schools face.

Dr. Weiss said she looks forward to collaborating with Jerry Sanderson and Patricia Kellogg, associate superintendents, in discerning those needs.

Being a good adviser to Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, also means being aware of cultural and political issues like school vouchers, she said.

“The Catholic Conference of Illinois is very good at informing the schools as to what they need to do to get out there and fight,” Dr. Weiss told The Post. “The worst thing we can do is be armchair critics. We need to get out there and fight, just like the bishop is doing.”

In all of this communication is key, she said.

“The listening component is huge. One of the things I’ve learned the hard way as a principal is just to keep my mouth shut and listen,” Dr. Weiss said. “Sometimes I listen with the intent to reply and that’s not what people need. Sometimes they just need to be heard.”

For the next six months she will be doing that listening two days a week in the superintendent’s office at the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria and three days a week in the principal’s office in Washington. Assisting her at St. Patrick’s will be Doreen Shipman, assistant principal and the school’s computer teacher.

Shipman, who also served as principal at St. Mary’s School in Metamora for eight years, will take the lead for the spring semester.

Dr. Weiss said she would help Msgr. John Prendergast, pastor at St. Patrick’s, through the search for a new principal and transition process.

Before she leaves she hopes to help St. Patrick’s students, staff and parents celebrate the school’s designation as a Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education. St. Patrick’s is among the 50 finalists for the recognition, which won’t be announced officially until September.

PRAYER REQUESTED
In addition to nine years as principal of St. Patrick’s, Dr. Weiss brings 24 years of experience as a teacher and counselor to her new post — all of it at Peoria Notre Dame and its predecessors.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in French and German from Illinois State University (1976), a master’s degree in Human Development Counseling with a specialization in school counseling from Bradley University (1993), and a doctorate in educational administration from ISU (2006).

Dr. Weiss was inducted into the Hall of Fame at ISU’s College of Education in 2010. She also was recognized as the Region VII recipient of the Robert J. Kealey Distinguished Principal Award by the National Catholic Educational Association in 2009.

On the diocesan level she has served as a member and chair of the Bishop’s Commission on Women in the Church and in Society, the Diocesan Evangelization Commission and the Diocesan Pastoral Council. Received into the Catholic Church in 1993, Dr. Weiss is a member of St. Patrick’s Parish in Washington, where she is a lector and extraordinary minister of holy Communion.

She said she marvels at the fact that her office at the Spalding Pastoral Center overlooks the building that once housed the Academy of Our Lady, where she got her start in Catholic education. She invited people to join her in praying for wisdom and the courage to make good decisions and follow through on them.

“And I think every leader needs purity of heart to serve,” Dr. Weiss said. “One of my favorite people in the Bible is David. . . . Even though David was a sinner, as we all are, and he made many mistakes, he always had that purity of heart and he would come back to the Lord.”

She also asked for prayers for humility and the ability to serve the diocese in the best way possible, “especially our bishop and those who are in leadership positions.”