I would like to announce that I have offered the principal position at Mary Immaculate Catholic School to James Hendler and he has accepted the offer. I thank the search committee for assisting in the interviews and offering their perspectives and insights throughout the process. James comes to us with many years of experience in elementary education and is a parishioner of Mary Immaculate. ~Msgr. Makarewicz
I would like to start by saying how excited and proud I am of the opportunity to serve as Principal at Mary Immaculate School. I was born and raised in St. Peters Missouri where I attended All Saints Parish and school, St. Dominic High School and St. Louis University. A Catholic School education was very important and formative for me growing up. I hope to have as strong an impact on Mary Immaculate students as my educators did on me. I moved to Kirksville in 1992 and attended Truman in 1993 and 1994. After graduating with a masters in English Literature, I became certified to teach and taught two years at Quince Notre Dame. I then took a job at Kirksville R-III and taught the next 26 years at William Matthew Middle School before retiring. I spent this last year at Faith Lutheran School teaching before being called to be Principal at Mary Immaculate. My wife Melissa Passe and I were married in this parish, and my two boys Alex and Adam were Mary Immaculate students. I still remember Sr. Ruth Ann on the phone talking Alex through his math work until he understood it, and the teachers working with Adam to become a stronger reader. Upon that foundation Alex graduated from University of Missouri S&T with honors, Adam will graduate from UCM with a degree in Cybersecurity next spring. Their success is built on the foundation that Mary Immaculate school provided for them and I will work to continue that excellence.
~James Hendler