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Head Of Bridgeport Diocese's Schools Leaving For Post In Hartford

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Sister Mary Grace Walsh, a former school principal and current head of the Bridgeport Diocese school system, will leave her post at the end of the year to take a new position.

Sister Mary Grace Walsh, superintendent of schools for the Bridgeport Diocese, will leave her post at the end of the year to join the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Sister Mary Grace Walsh, superintendent of schools for the Bridgeport Diocese, will leave her post at the end of the year to join the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Photo Credit: Diocese of Bridgeport

On Jan. 1, she will become the new provost for education, evangelization and catechesis of the Archdiocese of Hartford.

The announcement was made Thursday by Archbishop Leonard P. Blair of the Archdiocese of Hartford, and Bridgeport Bishop Frank J. Caggiano.

Caggiano, whose diocese takes in all of Fairfield County, said they would miss Walsh's leadership, but noted that she would be returning to the archdiocese where she was born and raised.

Walsh was named superintendent of Catholic schools in Bridgeport in October 2013 by Caggiano. In the post, she oversees more than 9,000 students and 1,000 faculty members in the 31 elementary and high schools sponsored by the Diocese of Bridgeport. 

“In my 10 years of service in the diocese, I have witnessed our schools flourish with the assistance of parents who, as the primary educators of their children, choose to entrust their children to our schools—often at great sacrifice," Walsh said.

Walsh is a member of the religious congregation of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. She served as deputy superintendent of schools in Bridgeport from July 2006 until she was named acting superintendent in February 2013.

During that time she also functioned as interim principal of St. Thomas Aquinas School in Fairfield from August 2007 to July 2008. She's also served as a principal and/or teacher in the Archdioceses of New York and St. Louis, and the dioceses of Metuchen, N.J.; Providence, R.I.; and Pittsburgh.

Born and raised in New Haven, Walsh earned her doctorate in educational administration and supervision/church leadership from Fordham University and a master's in education administration and supervision from Saint Louis University in St. Louis, Mo. She is also a graduate of Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, where she earned a bachelor's in English.

With the Hartford Archdiocese, she will have responsibility for the Office of the Permanent Diaconate Education, Office of Catholic Schools, Office of Religious Education, and the Office of Faith Development and Evangelization. 

The Diocese of Bridgeport will begin a national search for a new superintendent of schools immediately. For more details, visit the Diocese website or call 203-416-1380. 

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