GMercyU Alum Named Principal of Father Judge High School

GMercyU alum James Hozier '20 was recently named principal at Father Judge High School. James is most looking forward to growing the culture of Father Judge while providing the best education for students to “be who they are and be that well,” (St. Francis DeSales).

Experience at GMercyU

James earned his Master of Education with Principal Certification in GMercyU’s online accelerated program.

“I was an assistant principal while in the program, so the online self-pacing was ideal for me to complete the work while working full-time,” James said.

He was able to utilize his current experiences and apply them to his coursework. James expressed that, at times, the courses were aligned with a current situation in his school, allowing him to get the educational experience with a real-life application.

Why Stay in Education?

“I have always been drawn to the idea of helping the youth develop into the future. Education is the best way to help make sure that we are providing the the best morals, and the best way to prepare the younger generation to take their leadership roles in the world. We are forming the next leaders and I want to be sure I am able to help them become better than we are,” James said.

Working with the students and watching them grow spiritually, morally, and academically is the best part of education. Knowing that what we do now will guide and prepare the future of our world is the reason I stay and love education.

Getting Back to Normal

James had the opportunity to work with fellow teachers on a Freshmen Summer Readiness program. The focus is to help students transition into high school and back into school in a post-pandemic world.

His administration has provided teachers with continued personal development on project-based learning and converting formative assessments into projects.

James has worked on hiring additional guidance counselors to work with students on the transition and they’ve identified students with educational gaps in mathematics. With this knowledge, James has helped to develop a new math program to close the Algebra gap and to promote success.

“Overall, I continue to work with my team here to make sure our teachers have the best up-to-date technology and training to continue to promote student learning and close the COVID learning gap,” James said.