Click the video to hear what James has to say about the culture and future of our school.
Dear Members of the Saint Patrick Academy Community,
It is our great pleasure to announce the Board of Directors have unanimously selected James Melone as our new Head of School effective 7/1/19.
Since the summer, when the Board formed a Head of School Search Committee, we’ve reflected on the characteristics and experience a candidate would need to effectively lead our school. We knew whomever we chose would have to exemplify our school’s mission to make Education Fully Alive for our students, and blend well with our strong and faith-filled community.
Earlier this month, the Search Committee brought four of the most experienced and talented candidates to our campus to continue the interview process with the Search Committee, and to meet with the Board of Directors, our faculty, staff and students. At the conclusion of this comprehensive process, it was our unanimous recommendation that James is the right candidate to serve as our next Head of School.
James comes to us from Austin, Texas where he’s served as Head of Middle School at St. Gabriel’s Catholic School since 2012. He oversaw both academic and extracurricular programming for the fifth through eighth grades and created opportunities for teacher leadership through the construction of Department Heads, Dean of Students, and positions related to STEAM, Service Learning, and Innovative Learning.
In his position, he’s proven his consideration to creating an environment that is beneficial for student development and learning. He supervised the expansion of their Middle School into 3 sections and implemented social emotional learning in the Middle School. This learning method teaches children how to manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. James’s initiative show commonality with Saint Patrick Academy’s Virtue Education program and we know he will continue to lead us toward a positive impact and help maintain our school’s Catholic faith.
We were also impressed with his attention to internal school matters with his staff leadership care. Before his current position, James was Principal of St. Mary’s Catholic School in Temple, Texas where he improved teacher pay and benefits there, created opportunities and funding for staff professional development, and balanced their budget and eliminated school debt to the Diocese.
Though he’s coming to us from Texas, James is no stranger to New Hampshire. He was a 2005 graduate of Saint Anselm College in Manchester, before beginning his career as a third and then fourth grade teacher.
He is one of the most qualified pre-K through 8th grade educators in the country and we are extremely fortunate to have him lead us forward and to shape our curriculum and culture in positive and dynamic ways. We believe that James will be an exceptional leader for our school, bringing passion and experience to the role.
James, his wife, and their three young children are in the process of moving back to our state. We ask you please join us in warmly welcoming him and his family to Saint Patrick Academy.
