The search for a principal continues at St. Louis U. High. After current principal Ian Gibbons, SJ announced his upcoming departure from SLUH at the end of the academic year, the nationwide search commenced for his successor. In this search, SLUH is not only looking for someone to fulfill the necessary duties, but for someone who will go above and beyond in this position.

“We're looking for someone who can not only tell us our mission, but live it, communicate it, and embody it,” explained science teacher and Principal Search Committee chair Mary Russo.

The committee, made up of SLUH faculty members, parents, and benefactors, is led by science teacher Russo and former Board of Trustees chair Tom Santel ’76.

How can the best possible candidate be chosen? What are the standards to be met? How can we know who will be the best fit for SLUH? Questions like these are filling the minds of students and faculty alike. The search committee is taking every possible chance to answer questions like these in hope of finding new leadership for SLUH. 

“There are two sides to this,” said Russo. “We know what we have to offer to our community, and we want to make sure that everyone knows that. And then we know that these candidates have something to offer us. So we're looking for a match; if there's a match philosophically and matches on mission on both sides, then we're into something special. We're committed to that process.”

Throughout the past few months, applications have been received and applicants have been interviewed, in order to evaluate their alignment with the values that SLUH holds.

As outlined by the job description released by the committee, the principal is intended to serve as the instructional, operational, and visionary leader of the school while modeling a living faith. As such, with the singular stipulation of practicing Catholicism, the committee has cast a wide net in its search.

“You're going to miss something if you don't have diverse perspective,” explained Russo. “We're not going to be able to give you guys what it is you need if we don’t have our nonnegotiables, which is (an all-boys school). You need to know through as many lenses as possible, about both those issues, and we have to commit to that. I feel like the school has done a good job with that. I feel that process has done a good job.”

In an effort to achieve this diversity in their search, the committee was also assembled to represent the diverse interests and perspectives of the SLUH community, taking into account a range of experience and opinion. The committee includes both past and present parents: Cor Jesu Academy Dean of Academics Dr. Meghan Bohac, Assistant Superintendent of Clayton School District Dr. Milena Garganigo, and Santel. And it includes members of the SLUH faculty and staff: Russo, SLUH Vice President Michael Caruso, SJ; chair of SLUH Board of Trustees Darryl T Jones '73;  SLUH theology teacher Diego Navarro; SLUH college counselor Daniel Shields; and SLUH Director of Human Resources Beth Voegtli.

Though the list of current candidates for the principal position cannot yet be released, the committee remains confident that they have considered a diverse applicant pool up through this stage of the process.

“We've had a really nice group of local and national candidates and internal candidates that we've been able to talk to and help with our discernment process and their discernment process as it matches job description and mission,” explained Russo.

As the process to find the next principal progresses, the next step will be to introduce the remaining candidates to the school community through a series of student, teacher, and parent panels, in addition to opportunities to socialize and immerse themselves in the SLUH experience. This will allow both the candidates and the committee to evaluate whether fit.

“We have a good committee, so I think it's been a really good process,” said Santel. “And we're all really looking for who is the right person for this moment in SLUH’s history and will help move the school forward, and preserve and enhance its mission.”

Assuming that the timeline holds true, as it has so far, Carruthers will have chosen the next principal by the end of the calendar year.