The 2008-2009 school year opens with five new Catholic school administrators in Hawaii. Here are their profiles.

Robert Gallagher, Head of School, St. Theresa School, Honolulu

Robert Gallagher, the new head of school at St. Theresa School in Honolulu, comes to Oahu from Maui where he was headmaster and chief executive officer for one year at Horizons Academy, a private special education school in Haiku.

Gallagher received a bachelor in education degree at the University of Alberta in 1997 and his master of education degree at the University of Portland in Oregon in 2002.

He began his education career as a fifth and sixth grade teacher at Grand Centre Middle School in Alberta. In 2001, he was named vice-principal of Vital Grandin Catholic School in St. Albert, Alberta.

Gallagher was appointed in 2004 as principal of the K-12 Swan Hills School in Alberta.

From 2006 until he came to Maui, he was director of education at the Maple Bear School, a 600-student pre-school in Seoul, South Korea.

On Maui, he and his wife Audrey and their three children were parishioners of St. Joseph Church in Makawao where he served on the parish school’s board of directors.

“I am looking forward to working with students, parents, faculty members, and parishioners at building on the rich history of the school,” he said in a statement e-mailed to the Hawaii Catholic Herald. “I want to make St. Theresa the top school in the state!”

Gallagher replaces principal Sister John Joseph Gilligan, a sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

There is “no difference” between the position of “principal” and Gallaghers’s new title “head of school,” said pastor Father William Kunisch.

It is a private school term “headmaster” abbreviated to be gender-neutral, he said.

“It sets a certain tone that we want to compete with the best schools in Hawaii,” the pastor said.

Deanna M.B. Arecchi, Principal, St. Michael School, Waialua

Deanna M.B. Arecchi, a self-described “local girl,” has a solid list of connections to St. Michael School in Waialua where she has just been named principal. She has taught there for 11 years, her husband Dominic is an alumnus, and they have four sons attending.

Arecchi was born and raised in Waipio Gentry in central Oahu. She is a proud graduate of St. Joseph School in Waipahu and St. Francis School in Manoa, after which she attended Creighton University in Omaha, Neb.

At St. Michael, she has taught kindergarten, first grade and fourth grade.

“And have loved every minute of it,” she adds.

Deanna and Dominic’s oldest son Alii will be in seventh grade, second-born Akila will be in third grade, Alohi will be in kindergarten, and the youngest Akela will be in preschool.

“I am eager to begin my new administrative role with my St. Michael’s School and Parish Ohana and the Hawaii Catholic Schools,’ Arecchi wrote in an e-mail note to the Hawaii Catholic Herald. “I would like to thank all the people who have supported me and look forward to their continued support.”

Arecchi replaces principal Pamela Dickenson.

Henry LePage Jr., Interim principal, Cathedral Catholic Academy

West Point graduate and 13-year math teacher at Maryknoll School, Henry “Hank” LePage Jr. is the new interim principal of Cathedral Catholic Academy filling in for Aulani Kauhane who is serving part time as vice-principal because of health reasons.

Originally from Bristol, R.I., LePage was stationed after the military academy to Schofield Barracks as a second lieutenant with the 25th Infantry Division when he met and married his wife Sharon.

In 1992, after a number of assignments in the U.S. and Asia, he left the military and relocated his family to Hawaii. Maryknoll High School hired him as an algebra and calculus teacher.

Also at Maryknoll, he has been at various times speech team coach, math team coach, assistant baseball coach and assistant sailing team coach. In 2000, LePage went with the school mission team to Majuro and in 2003 participated in a Teachers Without Borders mission to South Africa.

He is looking forward to the new year at Cathedral Catholic Academy.

“The faculty and staff here are excellent, a faith filled, energetic and caring group that are dedicated to the students,” he said. “The warm family atmosphere is present everywhere.”

“I am awed by the responsibility that I will have in helping to mold the most precious resource we have, our children,” he said.

A Patriots and Red Sox fan, LePage and his wife Sharon have two children, one who is in the U.S. Air Force and has twice served in Iraq, and the other who is a public librarian. His wife is also a librarian, at Chaminade University of Honolulu.

Perry K. Martin, President, Maryknoll School

Maryknoll School has selected as its new president Perry K. Martin, whose previous position was as principal of Marist Catholic High School in Eugene, Ore.

Martin’s 30 years as an educator includes more than a decade as a Catholic high school administrator.

He has both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education from Western Oregon State College and holds an elementary and secondary administrative certificate from The College of New Jersey.

Under Martin’s leadership, Marist High School brought modern media and computer technology into each classroom, increased enrollment, raised faculty pay, and initiated long-range plans.

Before his assignment at Marist High, Martin was the principal of Sacred Heart Catholic High School in Medford, Ore. He has also served as a teacher in Oregon and Saudi Arabia.

“Perry’s strong administrative skills, demonstrated fundraising and financial management abilities, and passion and personal philosophy for Catholic education make him a valuable asset to the students, faculty, staff, and parents of Maryknoll School,” Al Wong, chairman of Maryknoll’s board of directors, said in a news release earlier this year.

Perry replaces Mike Baker, Maryknoll’s first lay president, who retired this year.

Shana Tong, Principal, Grade School Division, Maryknoll School

Shana Tong attended every grade Maryknoll School had to offer and has taught at almost every level in its grade school. Perhaps the only thing left to do was be principal, a position to which she has been appointed this year for Maryknoll’s grade school division.

Tong graduated from Maryknoll in 1983 after going there 13 years from kindergarten. She has a bachelor’s of arts degree in speech and communications from University of Hawaii at Manoa, and two masters, one in administration, curriculum and instruction from Gonzaga University, and another in Catholic leadership from Chaminade University of Honolulu.

Tong began her 20 years with Hawaii Catholic schools as the second grade teacher at Maryknoll where she has since taught English, public speaking, Japanese, religion and science. In the mid 1990s she also taught a year at Sacred Hearts Academy and a year at Sacred Hearts School, Lahaina.

In 2005 she was named vice principal of Maryknoll’s grade school division.

Tong, who is also a parishioner of the Manoa-Punahou Catholic Community, said, “I am deeply touched by the opportunity to serve Maryknoll in the capacity of principal for the grade school division.”

“Being an alum (since kindergarten) and having my own children attend Maryknoll, I have a deep appreciation for the school, its values and the mission,” she said.

Tong replaces principal Paul O’Brien.