FAQ - Purcell Marian High School

President Search Important Questions

The President Plus Principal leadership model divides the varied and numerous responsibilities for managing a private Catholic high school such as Purcell Marian between two leadership positions: a President and a Principal.

The President is the head of the school with the ultimate responsibility of the Catholic faith formation of our students and their academic success. The President is responsible for overseeing advancement functions, admissions, marketing, communication, technology, finances, and facilities management. With the Principal managing the day-to-day academic affairs of the school, the President will have the capacity for other very crucial tasks - these include visioning, long-range planning, strategic goal setting & execution, financial management, public relations & marketing, and fundraising.

The Principal has primary responsibility for day-to-day academic affairs of the school, including curriculum development, faculty development & evaluation, activities, and student affairs. The Principal provides leadership, oversight, and accountability for the academic and religious programming at Purcell Marian High School and directs, supervises, and oversees all academic faculty and support staff and all co/extracurricular activities, including athletics, fine arts, and clubs. The Principal will have equal responsibility, along with the President, for the Catholic faith formation of the students.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati highly recommends this governance model in its schools. Returning to the President Plus Principal Leadership Model frees the Principal to focus entirely on providing our Cavalier students with the best possible academic experience. By dividing responsibilities between a President and a Principal, we can ensure that each aspect of school leadership receives the attention it deserves. Instituting this governance model now will enable the President to oversee the development of a new Strategic Plan, ensuring the continued success and viability of Purcell Marian High School into its 100th Anniversary Celebration in 2028 and beyond.

We have enlisted the services of Partners in Mission School Leadership Search Solutions (Partners in Mission) as our search counsel. They will lead a thorough and thoughtful search process to hire a President during the 2024-2025 school year.

Partners in Mission will develop a vetted list of top candidates for our Board-led Search Committee’s consideration.
Then, the Search Committee will meet, review the top candidates, and narrow the pool to a list of semifinalists they will interview.
Interviews will only be conducted by the Search Committee to preserve candidates’ confidentiality. Confidentiality throughout this process is standard practice when conducting a leadership search.
After semi-finalist interviews, the finalists will be selected by the Search Committee, and final interviews will be conducted.
At the conclusion of this process, the Search Committee will present their recommendations to the Archdiocese.

The Search Committee is led by Board Chair Rich Ehemann ‘83 and Board Members Jim Mason and Sharon Redmond. Additional members of the Search Committee will be announced shortly.

Ian Goddard is serving as the Principal of Purcell Marian High School on an interim basis. He will do so while we conduct the search for our next President. During this time, all other leadership roles under the current organizational structure at Purcell Marian will remain the same.

All questions or recommendations can be submitted to pmhssearch@partnersinmission.com.