Six New Principals to Lead Area Catholic Schools This Fall
Monday, August 25, 2014
WASHINGTON – When the doors open for the new school year today, six Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Washington will be led by new principals. The new principals are Brian Blomquist at St. John the Baptist School in Silver Spring, Md., Chris Buchleitner at St. Mary School in Landover Hills, Md., Katy Dunn at Archbishop Carroll High School in Washington, Ann Gillespie at St. John the Evangelist School in Clinton, Md., Elise Heil at Sacred Heart School in Washington and Karen Robinson at St. Philip the Apostle School in Camp Springs, Md.
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Archbishop Carroll High School – Katy Dunn comes to Archbishop Carroll High School after serving in a variety of leadership positions at DC Prep, Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart and the Covent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich, Conn. A native Washingtonian, Dunn is a graduate of Georgetown University where she studied English and art history as well as the University of Maryland where she received a master’s degree in art history.
Sacred Heart School – Elise Heil has been the middle school math teacher at Sacred Heart School for the past four years. Prior to joining the Archdiocese of Washington, Heil taught in D.C. Public Schools after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in middle grades math education. She recently joined the faculty of WISSIT, the Washington International School Summer Institute for Teachers, and will be part of a team hosting a summer conference for local educators on cultivating cultures of thinking and preparing students for global competency. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in education leadership at Notre Dame of Maryland.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY
St. John the Baptist School – Brian Blomquist was a language arts teacher and assistant principal at St. Ann’s Academy in Washington from 2007 until 2014. Brian also served as an elementary school teacher in D.C. Public Schools for three years before joining the Archdiocese of Washington. Prior to becoming a teacher, Brian spent 17 years as a newspaper reporter and worked for a variety of newspapers including the Washington Post, Washington Times and New York Post where he also served as deputy Washington bureau chief. Blomquist has a master’s degree in education from American University and a master’s degree in journalism from Boston University.
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY
St. Mary School – Christopher Buchleitner has served as a teacher at St. Mary’s since 2010 where he also served as marketing director. Before entering a career in education, he spent 11 years in the financial services industry. Buchleitner received a bachelor’s degree from the State University of New York College at Potsdam and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in educational administration at Trinity University in Washington. Since 2009 he has served as the director of recreational youth hockey at the Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Md.
St. John the Evangelist School – Ann Gillespie joined the staff of St. John’s as a teacher in 2000 and subsequently served as the school’s assistant principal. She previously taught at Our Lady of Sorrows in Takoma Park, Md., during the 1990s. Gillespie received a Golden Apple Award from the Archdiocese of Washington in 2010 for her excellence in teaching and commitment to Catholic education and was St. John’s Teacher of the Year in the 2006-07 year.
St. Philip the Apostle School – Karen Robinson has served as assistant principal and admissions director at Holy Trinity School in Georgetown since 2010. She started her teaching career at Holy Trinity in 2005. Karen has been certified by the state of Maryland as a principal and holds a master’s degree in administration and supervision from Marymount University.
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The Archdiocese of Washington is home to over 620,000 Catholics, 139 parishes and 95 Catholic schools, located in Washington, D.C., and five Maryland counties: Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George’s and St. Mary’s.
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