Having fulfilled his mission at St. Joseph Excessive College in Metuchen, president and former principal Justin Fleetwood is leaving the school preparatory faculty to just accept a brand new problem, one which will afford him a possibility to return residence.
In a information launch asserting his reassignment throughout the Brothers of the Sacred Coronary heart, a Louisiana-based Catholic spiritual establishment with 11 colleges below its auspices, St. Joseph stated Fleetwood arrived when “the varsity wanted assist” and that “the legacy of the Brothers and Saint Joe’s had been in his fingers.”
Fleetwood got here to St. Joseph from his native New Orleans, the place he was born and raised and the place he spent the primary 22 years of his profession as an educator with the Brothers of the Sacred Coronary heart at Brother Martin Excessive College.
“His confirmed observe report afforded him, and the varsity, the chance to get ‘again on observe’ and to proceed the imaginative and prescient and mission of Father André Coindre (founding father of the Brothers of the Sacred Coronary heart), to coach younger males in a holistic, faith-based, academic atmosphere,” St. Joseph stated in a information launch.
“5 years later, Justin has accomplished his mission and shall be leaving our beloved Saint Joe’s. Justin shall be accepting a brand new project by the Brothers. However, his imprint on our campus won’t be forgotten.”
The varsity’s complete management staff, together with principal Anne Rivera, stays intact as St. Joseph prepares for the upcoming educational yr.
Throughout Fleetwood’s tenure, St. Joseph graduated almost 700 college students, many with honors, educational scholarships, and acceptances into a few of the nation’s high schools and universities, the information launch states.
Below his management, the varsity’s operations and funds had been stabilized, leading to a balanced price range, the elimination of debt and a rise in fundraising. The Workplace of Development and Alumni Relations was revamped, resulting in the reengagement of alumni. Amenities throughout campus had been considerably improved. St. Joseph additionally resurrected its Athletics Corridor of Fame, instituted the (F.A.N.) Falcon Alumni Community, and reintroduced the Cor Jesu Award, offered yearly to a member of the school-community in recognition of management and dedication to St. Joseph.
Because the announcement of Fleetwood’s reassignment was made, St. Joseph was placing the ending touches on the newly put in bleachers and press field on the Brenner Household Subject, the highschool’s multi-purpose athletics facility.
Ryan Carter, who graduated from St. Joseph in 1991 and has served as its head ice hockey coach for 13 seasons, stated as an alumnus, dad or mum of a latest graduate and member of the varsity’s Athletics Corridor of Fame, he has “by no means felt extra a part of the school-community” than he does now, which he attributes to Fleetwood.
Fleetwood served because the all-boys Catholic highschool’s principal from 2015-18 and as its president from 2018-20.
In a letter to the varsity group, Fleetwood wrote that “the Brothers of the Sacred Coronary heart requested that I come to Saint Joe’s and to function principal as a result of there have been great challenges dealing with our college.
“The Provincial Council gave me particular directives to, within the phrases of our Founder, ‘do all that you could and all that you will need to’ to make sure the success of our college in Metuchen … At the moment, nobody knew how lengthy this course of would take, and I used to be requested to remain so long as it could take to make sure a secure future for Saint Joe’s.
“Effectively, as introduced, after 5 difficult years, the Brothers of the Sacred Coronary heart, the Board of Administrators, and I all agree that the directives that I used to be given have been fulfilled, and subsequently, it’s time for me to maneuver on to handle different wants in the USA Province.
“I’m unhappy to go away our beloved Saint Joe’s as a result of a lot has occurred over these previous 5 years,” Fleetwood’s letter continued. “I’m so pleased with what we’ve achieved and the place that Saint Joe’s now finds itself.”
In his letter, Fleetwood credited St. Joseph’s college students, their mother and father, his colleagues, the varsity’s board of administrators, alumni and benefactors for the successes the varsity loved throughout his tenure.
“Clearly, there are such a lot of accomplishments that may be talked about, particularly the accomplishments of our Saint Joseph Males,” Fleetwood wrote. “These younger males have made us proud and proceed to make us proud spiritually, academically, socially, and bodily. And, they show their items from God inside and out of doors of the classroom, out and in of the athletic arenas, and on and off of the stage. It’s our college students whom I’ll miss essentially the most.”
St. Joseph’s 138-member 2020 graduating class acquired greater than $28 million in scholarships to four-year schools. Seventy p.c of these college students acquired scholarships totaling greater than their four-year tuition at St. Joseph, 62 p.c of these graduates had been awarded scholarships of greater than $20,000 per yr, and half of these alums acquired scholarships of greater than $90,000.
A graduate of the College of New Orleans, the place he earned a bachelor’s diploma in English, and of the College of San Francisco, from which he acquired a grasp’s diploma in Personal College Administration, Fleetwood served in a wide range of roles throughout greater than 20 years at Brother Martin Excessive College in Louisiana previous to coming to St. Joseph.
At Brother Martin, Fleetwood was an assistant principal for self-discipline and attendance, English instructor, pupil council moderator and athletics coach.
Fleetwood accomplished the Coindre Management Program, a formation program for lay leaders in Brothers of the Sacred Coronary heart colleges designed to deepen understanding of the tutorial charism of the institute. He additionally participated in spirituality improvement with the Brothers by a mission in Africa, a pilgrimage to the birthplace of the Brothers of the Sacred Coronary heart in France, and a concluding synthesis expertise on the basic home of the Brothers in Italy.
Throughout Fleetwood’s appointment as St. Joseph’s principal in 2015, Brother Mark Hilton, S.C., who on the time was provincial of the Brothers of the Sacred Coronary heart United States Province, thanked Fleetwood for assuming a brand new problem.
“The Provincial Council is grateful to Justin for enthusiastically accepting our problem to maneuver to New Jersey to tackle this vital management position,” Hilton stated in a information launch on the time. “We’re joyful to have an individual of Justin’s vitality, skill and fervour for our mission settle for the decision to guide St. Joe’s.”
The campus that’s now St. Joseph, which opened as a highschool in 1961, served six a long time prior as a middle for coaching and educating Brothers of the Sacred Coronary heart. The highschool’s historic significance consists of being considered one of two locations the place the Brothers of the Sacred Coronary heart sought sanctuary after spiritual orders had been expelled from France.
“Thanks for 5 superb years, and thanks for the privilege of serving in ministry with you,” Fleetwood wrote in his letter to the school-community. “I’ve an incredible quantity of inexperienced in my blood now, and I shall be eternally a Falcon. The varsity is in nice fingers.”
In its new launch, St. Joseph stated it’s due to (Fleetwood’s) “self-sacrifice, dedication, imaginative and prescient, friendship, and coronary heart” over the past 5 years that the varsity group says, “with disappointment,” farewell and never goodbye.
“Saint Joe’s,” the discharge stated, “is, and can all the time be, his residence.”
E mail:
Learn or Share this story: https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/information/2020/07/07/st-joseph-says-farwell-president-who-served-school-community-five-years/5380428002/