Local Administrator Named Head of New St. Joseph Prep in Brighton

The new Saint Joseph Preparatory High School—which will form with the merge of  and Mount Saint Joseph Academy in Brighton—has named Thomas E. Nunan Jr. as its first head of the school. 

According to a press release issued Friday, Nunan has 27 years of experience as a teacher, administrator, mentor and coach. He is currently the chairman of the Theology Department at in Needham. 

“It is an honor to be selected as the first Head of School at Saint Joseph Preparatory High School,” Nunan said in the press release. “Saint Joseph Preparatory will combine the rich traditions of Mount Saint Joseph Academy and Trinity Catholic, creating a uniquely student-centered and faith-based educational community that strives for academic excellence in order to prepare our students for the future."

School officials from Trinity Catholic and Mount Saint Joseph , a move made to "maintain a vibrant, academically rigorous and operationally efficient Catholic secondary school" for the area communities. 

The new, co-ed Saint Joseph Preparatory School will open in September 2012 on the Brighton campus of Mount Saint Joseph Academy. 

For more information on the hiring of Nunan, read the full press release below:

Veteran administrator and teacher Thomas E. Nunan Jr. has been named the first Head of School at Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, which will open its doors in September when Brighton’s Mount Saint Joseph Academy and Newton’s Trinity Catholic High School combine to form the new secondary school.

Nunan is currently chairman of the Theology Department at St. Sebastian’s School, a private Catholic school in Needham, where he has served in a variety of capacities since 1985. Nunan has supervised and evaluated teachers, implemented professional development and evaluation practices, and overseen curriculum development. He has led two successful New England Association of Schools and Colleges accreditation studies for the school. A co-leader of the St. Sebastian’s campus ministry program, Nunan directs the senior class community service program and an award-winning service program that has aided the city of New Orleans, La.

“Tom Nunan’s passion is the pursuit of excellence in Catholic education,” said Sister Mary L. Murphy, president of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston. “His vision gives life to the spirit of the Sisters of St. Joseph, which seeks excellence tempered by gentleness. I am confident Saint Joseph Preparatory High School is the right place for Mr. Nunan and he is the right leader for this new school.”

Saint Joseph Preparatory High School, which has the capacity to serve 400 students, is a sponsored ministry of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Boston.

Nunan, who holds a master’s degree in education from Boston College, said he’s excited to bring his 27 years of experience as a teacher, administrator, mentor and coach to the historic task of melding the traditions of the all-girls Mount Saint Joseph with the co-educational Trinity Catholic into a new co-educational high school.

“It is an honor to be selected as the first Head of School at Saint Joseph Preparatory High School,” said Nunan. “Saint Joseph Preparatory will combine the rich traditions of Mount Saint Joseph Academy and Trinity Catholic, creating a uniquely student-centered and faith-based educational community that strives for academic excellence in order to prepare our students for the future.”

Part of Nunan’s multifaceted career at St. Sebastian’s included twice leading the school’s NEASC accreditation self-study. In addition, from 2007 to 2011 Nunan served on the Board of Trustees during the creation of the groundbreaking Trinity Catholic Academy in Brockton. In 2008-2009, he served on the Religious Education Task Force established by Cardinal Sean O’Malley. He is currently a member of the Bishop Feehan High School Improvement Team and since 2008 has chaired the board of the Triboro Youth Theatre.

Nunan graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Boston College and later earned a Master of Education degree from BC’s Institute for Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry.

Nunan said he looks forward to working with the community of students, teachers, parents and alumni and alumnae that has quickly formed to support the new school.

“Our vision for Saint Joseph Preparatory High School is of a richly diverse school family in which all students are challenged to excel, encouraged by their classmates, affirmed and mentored by their teachers, and known and loved by God,” said Nunan. “Working together, we will provide students with the highest quality college preparatory education, a broad range of athletic and extra-curricular activities, and a spiritual community in which they can experience the presence of God.”

Information about admissions to the new Saint Joseph Preparatory High School is available at www.saintjosephprep.org.