October 25, 2023

“Jesus waits for us in this sacrament of love.”

Saint John Paul II

Welcome Back! I am so excited to welcome you back to another year of excellent Catholic education in the Archdiocese of San Francisco. I hope you were all able to get some relaxation during July. My team and I all had the opportunity for some time away. While I took a staycation, members of the DCS traveled around the world, including Central America, Canada, Mexico, and Africa. I have heard from many of you who also travel this summer, so whether you stayed in the Bay Area or traveled the globe, I hope you connected with family, friends, and yourself.

This school year, we will focus specially and intentionally on the Eucharistic. This “sacrament of love” is the source and summit of the Christian life (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1324). I have shared with many of you my experience at Assumption School when my pastor and I implemented weekly Mass for the whole school community every Monday morning. Starting our week in community with Christ set the tone for our week and our interactions with each other. As our Archdiocese and country celebrate a Eucharistic Revival, I hope that our schools can find simple and meaningful ways to incorporate this celebration of the Eucharist into the everyday life of our communities.

On a personal note, after much prayer and discernment, I have decided that the 23/24 school year will be my last as Superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of San Francisco. I have loved working with my DCS team and all of you more than I can say, but, as one of my favorite Old Testament passages says, “for everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” As I enter my 10th year in the Archdiocese and my 7th year as Superintendent, this is my time to move aside and make room for new leadership. I am announcing my decision this early in the school year so the Archbishop and Fr. Summerhays have ample time to find a new Superintendent for the 24/25 school year and so I can assist in a smooth transition. I am still Superintendent for the next 11 months and am dedicated and excited to support you and enjoy every moment of this school year. Fr. Summerhays will provide additional information on the search for a new Superintendent in the coming months.

Blessings,
Pam Lyons

November 1, 2023

Dear Catholic School Administrators and Teachers,

I hope the present school year is off to a great start!

As many of you know, our Superintendent of the Department of Catholic Schools, Pam Lyons, announced in early August that, after prayerful discernment, she plans to step down from her position at the end of this academic year.  On behalf of Archbishop Cordileone and the Archdiocese of San Francisco, I wish to recognize her leadership.  During her tenure, DCS has built rapport with teachers and administrators throughout the Archdiocese, worked collaboratively with pastors and school leaders, updated the teacher pay structure, offered new opportunities for professional development, and risen to countless challenges, none bigger than navigating the COVID-19 shutdown — keeping our students and employees safe while offering continuity with continued instruction.  We are so proud of her and her team!

I wish to announce that we are planning to conduct a national search for Pam’s successor.  Toward that end, I have interviewed several firms and formed a superintendent search committee, asking Tim Navone, the President of Marin Catholic High School, to serve as its chairman.  We also asked for an independent consultant to conduct an “enrichment visit,” touring several elementary and high schools, leading focus groups with pastors and school leaders as well as interviewing different members of the DCS staff.  We are making progress and plan to engage a national search firm very soon.  Please look for another message soon from Tim Navone, announcing that engagement, an anticipated timeline for this search, and a prospectus for this open position.

May God bless you in your essential mission to educate and form our students in the Catholic faith.

Sincerely,

Fr. Summerhays

Dear School Community of the Archdiocese of San Francisco,

I am pleased to provide you with an update on the search process to identify and secure our next Superintendent of Schools. As you may know, the 2023-24 school year will be the last for Superintendent Pamela Lyons. We applaud her for her fantastic leadership and for her incredible work guiding us through the pandemic, where it was clear that our Catholic schools shined in keeping the mental health and academic success of our students as the complete focus.

In our effort to secure the best and brightest candidates for our Superintendent from near and far, we have retained Partners in Mission School Leadership Search Solutions (www.partnersinmissionslss.com) to serve as our search counsel. Partners in Mission (www.partnersinmission.com) is a nationally recognized full-service consulting firm focused exclusively on delivering excellence in Catholic school leadership, advancement, and enrollment management.

Kyle Pietrantonio will be our principal search consultant for the Superintendent search. In October, Kyle visited several campuses and met students, parents, clergy, faculty, staff, board, and administrative leaders. Enriched with these many perspectives and working jointly with our Search Committee, Partners in Mission will develop a detailed Search Prospectus that highlights our exciting leadership opportunity.

As the search progresses, the Partners in Mission team will be working with a wide range of individuals within their extensive network of mission-driven Catholic leaders from across the nation. Their search efforts will focus on prospective candidates most familiar with our competitive market, gradually expanding their extensive outreach initiatives throughout the United States to recruit only the most personally, professionally, and culturally fit leaders. Ultimately, they will develop a vetted list of top candidates for our search committee’s consideration in January 2024. The search committee will meet shortly thereafter narrowing this pool to a list of semi-finalists whom they will interview.

This select group will be interviewed only by the search committee to preserve candidates’ confidentiality. Confidentiality throughout this process is standard practice when conducting a leadership search. The search committee includes a representative group of religious/priests, diocesan staff, and school personnel.

After semi-finalist interviews, the finalists (typically two or three) will be selected by the search committee. The finalists (and spouses, if applicable), if not already local, will have the opportunity to visit the Archdiocese in January or February for individual day-long visits. The search committee will meet again shortly after the last finalist’s visit to review all the information gathered throughout the process, which will include feedback received from members of our Archdiocesan school community who have had an opportunity to engage with all finalists. At the conclusion of this process, the search committee will recommend the finalist candidates to the Archbishop who will ultimately appoint the next Superintendent.

The search calendar that we established remains on track. We anticipate that we will secure our next Superintendent by early 2024, with a start date in early July. Keep in mind that the retained search function is a dynamic, fluid, and competitive process. Should top candidates emerge ahead of our anticipated schedule, we maintain the ability to adjust these timelines and remain best positioned to secure the most ideal candidates currently available.

In the coming weeks, please watch for additional communications and follow progress on both the Archdiocesan and San Francisco Department of Catholic Schools websites. The “Superintendent Search” pages will detail the progress of our search efforts. In the interim, if you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me. I remain grateful to all of you for your insights as the search moves forward, and I am confident that this process will identify the most ideal candidate able to continue and enhance Catholic education at all levels in the San Francisco Archdiocese.

God bless,

Tim Navone
Chair of the Search Committee

Tim Navone, President of Marin Catholic High School, is the chair of the search committee for the new Superintendent of Catholic Schools. We also asked for an independent consultant to conduct an “enrichment visit,” touring several elementary and high schools, leading focus groups with pastors and school leaders as well as interviewing different members of the Department of Catholic Schools (DCS) staff. In our effort to secure the best and brightest candidates for our Superintendent from near and far, we have retained Partners in Mission School Leadership Search Solutions (www.partnersinmissionslss.com) to serve as our search counsel. Partners in Mission (www.partnersinmission.com) is a nationally recognized full-service consulting firm focused exclusively on delivering excellence in Catholic school leadership, advancement, and enrollment management

Kyle Pietrantonio will be our principal search consultant for the Superintendent search. In October, Kyle visited several campuses and met students, parents, clergy, faculty, staff, board, and administrative leaders. Enriched with these many perspectives and working jointly with our Search Committee, Partners in Mission will develop a detailed Search Prospectus that highlights our exciting leadership opportunity.

The role of the search committee is to identify and secure our next Superintendent of Catholic Schools. Superintendent Pamela Lyons will be stepping down at the end of the 2023-2024 school year.. As the search progresses, the Partners in Mission team will be working with a wide range of individuals within their extensive network of mission-driven Catholic leaders from across the nation. Their search efforts will focus on prospective candidates most familiar with our competitive market, gradually expanding their extensive outreach initiatives throughout the United States to recruit only the most personally, professionally, and culturally fit leaders. Ultimately, they will develop a vetted list of top candidates for our search committee’s consideration in January 2024. The search committee will meet shortly thereafter narrowing this pool to a list of semi-finalists whom they will interview. This select group will be interviewed only by the search committee to preserve candidates’ confidentiality. Confidentiality throughout this process is standard practice when conducting a leadership search. The search committee includes a representative group of religious/priests, diocesan staff, and school personnel.

After semi-finalist interviews, the finalists (typically two or three) will be selected by the search committee. The finalists (and spouses, if applicable), if not already local, will have the opportunity to visit the Archdiocese in January or February for individual day-long visits. The search committee will meet again shortly after the last finalist’s visit to review all the information gathered throughout the process, which will include feedback received from members of our Archdiocesan school community who have had an opportunity to engage with all finalists. At the conclusion of this process, the search committee will recommend the finalist candidates to the Archbishop who will ultimately appoint the next Superintendent. 

Tim Navone
President, Marin Catholic
Search Committee, Chair
[email protected]