St. Dominic School instituted a Board of Specified Jurisdiction to help navigate the school’s success in a critically changing and increasingly competitive marketplace.
The Board’s goal is to focus on school sustainability with individual members lending specific professional expertise to help address specific issues, challenges and goals facing the school. The Board will form committees to provide direction and decision-making in the areas of financial management, marketing and enrollment, fundraising and accountability. A committee to focus on strategic planning will be developed as the Board progresses.
Responsibility for day-to-day operation of the school, including curriculum, student and parent issues and oversight of faculty and staff will remain with the school’s current administration.
The St. Paul and Minneapolis Archdiocese partnered with the Healey Education Foundation through its signature initiative. The Healey Education Foundation is a non-profit organization whose mission is to sustain and grow Catholic schools by “helping schools help themselves.” The foundation provides board training and ongoing support to make the board as effective as possible.
The Board currently has ten members, with a typical term for a board member being three years.
Position:Chairman of the Board
Company:Northfield Hospitals
Company:Vice President - Central Business Unit, Rosen’s, Inc.
I am a native of Wells, MN where I attended St Casimir’s Catholic School through 8th grade and graduated from Wells-Easton High School. I earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Minnesota and has spent most of his career in the agricultural industry. Currently, I am the Vice President, Central Business Unit for Rosen’s Incorporated, an agricultural input distribution company. Faith and family are the two most important aspects of my life. I have lived in Northfield with my wife Carolyn since 1997. Our daughter Nicole attended St. Dominic School through 8th grade and is currently a Junior at Northfield High School.
Position:Pharmacist at M Health Fairview
I graduated from St. Dominic Catholic School in 2007 and have seen the direct impact that a St. Dominic Catholic education can have on one’s life. St. Dominic Catholic School provided me the knowledge and skills that allowed me to be successful all the way from high school to pharmacy school. It provided me with lifelong friendships. It most importantly helped me develop my Catholic faith, which has allowed me to become a better pharmacist and person. My goal as a board member is to help St. Dominic Catholic School continue to be successful and reconnect alumni back with the school. I’m currently a pharmacist with M Health Fairview.
Position:Xcel Energy- Network Engineer
I am an alumni of the school, having attended it from first through eighth grade (before the preschool and kindergarten programs were offered). Along with many fond memories of the school, I have a strong attestation to what the school provides for academic and spiritual growth. My education at the school laid the foundation for the success I had in high school and on to college, where I attended St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. It is no coincidence that I chose a small, private Catholic college to achieve my bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering, as it felt like a natural progression from my roots at St. Dominic School.
Today I am a Network Engineer for Xcel Energy. I happily continue to live in Northfield, but now I do so with a family of my own. My wife, Danielle, and I have grown our family to 4 children. Our children are attending the school now as I get to vicariously relive all those fond memories. I look forward to witnessing their growth as the school helps guide them into being the smart, confident, and caring people of the future.
I am recently retired from a construction company I sold early this year. My wife, Donna, and I have two daughters, Jessica, who teaches fifth grade at St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic School in Delano, and Andrea teaches fifth grade at St. Dominic School. We also have five grandchildren, two of whom attend St. Dominic School. We have lived at our current home since 1993, when we joined the St. Dominic community.
I am the chairperson of the Facilities Committee on the school board. I enjoy running, golf, softball/baseball, and being with my family. Retirement will allow us to travel more, and for me to umpire baseball and softball games and officiate football.
Position:Pastor and Board Member
It is a blessing for me to be the new Pastor of the St. Dominic Parish and School family!
My parents’ blessed me and my three older brothers with the gift of a Catholic education at St. Matthew’s (now Community of Saints) Grade School in St. Paul and Archbishop Brady High School in West St. Paul. I earned a Business degree from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management and a Masters of Divinity from the St. Paul Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
I have served as an associate priest at St. Michael in St. Michael and Epiphany in Coon Rapids. More recently, I served as the pastor of the clustered parishes of Ascension in Norwood Young America and St. Bernard in Cologne. Before I came to St. Dominic I served for 15 months as a chaplain at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in Minneapolis.
I love being a priest! But if I didn’t become a priest I could see myself in a Catholic School as a Physical Education Teacher and a Coach because I love sports and teaching children life and faith lessons through sports. Growing up, I played lots of sports–football, basketball, hockey, baseball and tennis. I also enjoyed fishing, bicycle riding and hunting.
I look forward to meeting and getting to know all our students and families. I pray that St. Dominic School can play a vital role in assisting parents as they teach their children about God’s personal and profound love for them and about the marvels of His creation. I am especially excited to worship God with students, faculty, families and parishioners at our weekly Mass.
There is a beautiful passage from Luke 2:52 summarizing Jesus’ growth as a child. It says, “And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.” My earnest hope is that each of our St. Dominic students will do the same!
