Dear Friends,
I am pleased to inform you that Trinity Hall’s Board of Trustees has selected Mary Mahon Sciarrillo, a Monmouth County native and nineteen-year educator, as Trinity Hall’s Founding Head of School. Mary is currently the Upper School Principal at Oak Knoll School of the Holy Child, a prestigious all-girls Catholic independent school in Summit, NJ. Mary is one of the most experienced and highly regarded all-girls Catholic high school administrators in New Jersey. Mary has played a key leadership role at Oak Knoll for almost 20 years and we are extremely pleased she will lead Trinity Hall when it opens in September, 2013.
In accepting this position, Mary commented: “I am excited to have this opportunity. I feel blessed to be part of Trinity Hall. For many years, we have known our girls in Monmouth County would benefit from an all-girls education – how fortunate that Trinity Hall’s Board of Trustees is making this school a reality. We will open in September 2013 with a rigorous program of education focusing on girls and their development as students and leaders. Trinity Hall women will make a difference.”
From a national pool of qualified applicants, Mary emerged as the superior candidate as a result of her quality experiences and her commitment to Catholic and single-sex education. An alumna of Red Bank Catholic, Mary graduated from St. Vincent’s Hospital School of Nursing and later earned a master’s degree in educational leadership at Seton Hall University, attending the Catholic School Leadership program.
Mary joined the faculty at Oak Knoll in 1994 as Dean of Students, where she served for nine years. Since her promotion to Upper School Principal (grades 7 through 12) in 2003, Mary has worked to develop new courses and to introduce scheduling practices that address whole-child programming. Further, Mary has emphasized faculty growth and development as teacher leaders. Mary also worked with the Upper School faculty to develop additional advanced placement courses in science and mathematics, engineering and computer science courses, two additional language programs, and to improve courses in all departments.
As Principal of the Upper School, Mary focused a great deal of effort on the school’s college advisory program which helped Oak Knoll become widely recognized as a feeder to many of the nation’s premier colleges and universities. Tim Saburn, the Head of Oak Knoll School and a member of Trinity Hall’s Board of Advisors, stated “Our loss is Trinity Hall’s gain and I applaud you and support you in this next step in your career. “
In addition, James Palmieri, current Director of Strategic Initiatives at Kent Place School in Summit, NJ, will be joining Trinity Hall’s school leadership team as Assistant Head of School. James served in a variety of capacities in his seven years at Kent Place, spanning the spectrum from business operations to academic programming. Kent Place is an independent college preparatory day school which has educated young women for over 100 years in Summit, NJ. Academically, James has earned a bachelor’s degree in education at Providence College and master’s degree in educational administration and supervision at Seton Hall University. He is near completion of a doctor of education degree in educational leadership at Rutgers University.
We are elated to welcome Mary, James and their families to the emerging Trinity Hall school community. We are confident their leadership will serve the immediate and long-term needs of this exciting new and differentiated educational option for the young women of Monmouth County. I can safely state on behalf of the Board that we have found two leaders that are hard working, gracious, and grounded in the fundamentals of Trinity Hall’s mission.. We look forward to introducing you to them at our upcoming informational events over the next three weeks and sharing more news regarding faculty, curriculum, athletics and the creative arts.
Sincerely,
Sean Clifford, Chair
Trinity Hall’s Board of Trustees