St. Agnes co-principals to retire after 35 years

Sister Kathleen Carlin and Helen Newman both plan to leave at the end of the school year

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After 35 years of working together to direct the St. Agnes Cathedral School, Sister Kathleen Carlin and Helen Newman announced that they will retire at the beginning of the 2016-17 school year.

Carlin and Newman are co-principals of St. Agnes — the only such duo in New York’s Catholic school system. Both will step down on Sept. 1.

Carlin took over as the school’s principal in 1977, and Newman started as its assistant principal in 1981. The two grew close, and worked together more and more, ultimately sharing in the decision-making. Nonetheless, the switch to co-principals was a unique one for St. Agnes.

“We worked together so well, and I felt that she really deserved the recognition, and we really made our decisions together,” Carlin said of Newman. “So it was more equitable for us to be known as co-principals instead of principal and assistant principal.”

They formalized the arrangement in 1999, and the two have worked closely together ever since. Between them, they have more than 50 years of experience in leading the school.

In a letter sent to St. Agnes parents, Monsignor William Koenig of St. Agnes Cathedral, the rector of the school, explained that Carlin and Newman would be replaced not by co-principals, but by a principal and an assistant. “While the present structure of St. Agnes has been co-principals, this is unique to St. Agnes, and had evolved after Miss Newman had worked with Sister Kathy for a number of years as assistant principal,” Koenig wrote. “As we prepare for a new administration of our school, please know that we are looking to select one person who can serve as principal, and that person will be charged with selecting an assistant principal with whom to work.”

Carlin and Newman are leaving large shoes to fill. In addition to their years as principal, both had long careers in Catholic education before coming to St. Agnes. Carlin taught in a diocesan elementary school before she began teaching social studies at Maria Regina High School. She left to become a guidance counselor at St. Agnes, and then principal.

Newman taught at St. Augustin’s, in New City, N.Y., before coming to St. Agnes to teach social studies. A year later, she was appointed assistant principal.

Both women agree with the plan to switch back to a standard principal-assistant principal model. “We’ve worked as a team for such a long time,” Carlin said. “In order for that to happen, people have to be very compatible. That took time for us. I think to go back to the original model is more realistic.”

“I think that would be the only way to go,” Newman added. “It took us many years to find the relationship where we were able to work together like this.”

The school has formed a committee to search for a new principal. Its members include Koenig, a representative of the Education Office of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, three St. Agnes parents and a teacher from a different Catholic school. Carlin and Newman are not on the committee, but have offered advice on the experience they think a new leader of St. Agnes should have. The process of selecting a new principal has already begun, and is expected to be completed by June.

Both Carlin and Newman said they would be around in the next school year to help the new administration should it need it. But they are both also looking forward to having more time for themselves. Newman said she wants to travel to see her family, and Carlin said she wants to spend some time on the beach with a good book.

“Their commitment and dedication is borne out in our school’s excellence and has been a true gift for countless school children and families, as well as our overall parish,” Koenig wrote in his letter. “I speak on behalf of so many in expressing my gratitude to them.”

Do you have fond memories of Sister Kathleen or Miss Newman? You can send your recollections to By rvceditor@liherald.com, or mail them to 2 Endo Blvd, Garden City, N.Y., 11530, Attn: RVC Editor.