Changes in the administration of St. Joseph and St. Pius X High Schools have been announced by Archbishop Thomas Donnellan and Father Dan O’Connor, secretary of the Department of Education.

Father Richard Kieran, former principal at St. Pius, has been transferred to head the faculty at St. Joseph. Succeeding him at St. Pius is Father James Sexstone.

In notifying the parents at the two diocesan schools, Archbishop Donnellan explained his decision to make the administrative changes in the middle of the school year. He stated: “We are in the middle of a search for a new site for St. Joseph High School. I want the best possible leadership for this school at this time, and feel that Father Kieran is the most qualified principal.

“Mr. Raymond Kerwin has been principal since June 1971, and his contract was due to expire at the end of the school year. Mr. Kerwin has very graciously acceded to our request that he step aside now, in order that Father Kieran might assume the responsibilities of administration immediately.

“This is most important because it will allow Father Kieran the opportunity to hire his own faculty for next year, and begin the work of scheduling classes. In addition, it will allow him to assume immediate leadership in our search for an alternate site for St. Joseph High School.”

Father Kieran, a native of Dunleer, Ireland, was ordained for the Archdiocese of Atlanta in 1965. He served as assistant pastor at Immaculate Heart of Mary prior to joining the St. Pius faculty in 1967.

Archbishop Donnellan ordained Father Sexstone, a native of New York, to the priesthood in 1969. He has been a member of the St. Pius staff since May 1969 and is a priest-in-residence at Immaculate Heart of Mary.

Upon learning of his appointment as principal at St. Pius, Father Sexstone commented: “As I succeed Father Kieran as principal of St. Pius, I am highly conscious of two very important facts. First, this school is based and operates on the one true foundation of Christian education – Jesus Christ and his Good News of God’s redemptive love.

“Second, the strong and vibrant Christian educational community that exists here is very much the work of many people seeking earnestly to carry out the Lord’s plan and to do His will in the formation of young people.”

Another change at St. Joseph’s is the addition of Father Jim Grear, who has been named curriculum coordinator and will teach English.

Father Grear moved to Atlanta from Muncie, Indiana, where he served as a counselor at the Newman Chapel while working for his master’s degree in secondary education at Ball State University.

In 1965 he lived in Atlanta while teaching for the government’s Upward Bound program. He was ordained in 1970 and is a native of Philadelphia. He will work on his Ph.D. in Atlanta.