Catholic school leadership program flourishes at Virginia college

Published: 2005-01-24

ARLINGTON, Va. (CNS) -- Several years ago Michael Gnat was unhappy with his job as a sales manager for a fire alarm system, so he began working as a substitute public schoolteacher. He enjoyed teaching, and in 1998 he began teaching science and computer science to fifth-graders at a Catholic school in Fredericksburg. A few years later, when he was considering taking on a leadership role in Catholic schools, he entered the Catholic School Leadership Program at Marymount University in Arlington to earn his master's degree in education administration. "Usually the principal's role is mainly managerial, but (Marymount's program) dealt with the spiritual aspect of leadership," said Gnat, who is currently principal of Holy Family School in Dale City. One concept he learned from the program was that God's presence in education is "not just in religion class. He is the education. Marymount really brought that home for me," he told the Arlington Catholic Herald, newspaper of the Arlington Diocese. The university, which is run by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary, began the leadership program four years ago with about a dozen students. It is a two-year program of 36 credits.

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