President Search
On September 1, 2020, the De La Salle High School Board of Trustees announced that school President, Mark DeMarco ‘78, will be retiring at the end of the 2020-21 school year. Mark DeMarco has served as the De La Salle President since 2007, when he was named the school’s first Alumni President.
A graduate and former teacher, DeMarco was appointed by the Board of Trustees as President of De La Salle High School on July 1, 2007. With broad experience in administration, organizational and strategic planning, he has more than 30 years in educational teaching and management stretching from elementary through high school. Prior to returning to De La Salle in 2007, DeMarco served as assistant, then Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Oakland. He has served on a number of boards throughout his career including the California Catholic State Superintendents (chair), the Western Catholic Education Association, the University of San Francisco Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership and the California Private School Advisory Committee where he was appointed by the State Superintendent for Public Instruction.
Under DeMarco’s leadership at De La Salle, the school completed a highly successful comprehensive campaign that led to the building of a new Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STREAM) Innovation Center, the Ladouceur Athletic Performance Center, and a new Learning Center. During the campaign, the school secured the largest individual gift to a high school in the country (at the time of gift) $25 million from the late Kenneth H. Hofmann, which included a $15 million endowment for financial aid.
President Search Updates
- Nov. 5 - President Search Update from the search committee chairman
- Sept. 8 - Announcement from the Search Committee & Board of Trustees
- Press Release (Sept. 3) - President DeMarco to Retire after 2020-21 School Year
- Sept. 1 - Letter to Families from Board of Trustees Chair
- Sept. 1 - Retirement announcement from President Mark DeMarco '78
Nov. 5 - President Search Update from the search committee chairman
November 5, 2020
Dear De La Salle High School Community,
On behalf of the President Search Committee, we would like to provide you with a brief update on the search process.
Our search professionals from Educational Directions, Mathew Heersche and Risa Oganesoff Heersche, have been in the process of recruiting candidates. Their work has involved reaching out to Catholic educational leaders throughout the country and abroad, utilizing Educational Directions’ comprehensive database, contacting national and regional associations and professional organizations as well as leadership programs at various Catholic universities and advertising on appropriate websites such as The Blue Sheet, an executive search report published by Educational Directions.
Overall, the opportunity has drawn interest from a broad range of individuals. At this point, Mathew and Risa are working with a wide range of individuals throughout the United States who have expressed strong interest in the position. Their work with candidates involves multiple conversations, comprehensive interviews and initial reference checks to determine who would be the best match for the President’s position. They will ultimately develop a group of top candidates for consideration by the Search Committee. The candidates’ files, which include the candidate’s cover letter, resume, statement of educational philosophy, letters of reference and a reference list, as well as other information provided by Educational Directions, will be presented to the Search Committee for its review and consideration in early January.
As a reminder, it is from this group of top candidates that the Search Committee will select the five to seven individuals to be interviewed as semi-finalists. This group will be interviewed by the committee only as candidates are promised confidentiality through the end of the semi-finalist stage. This is consistent with best practices and important for the candidates because of the potential repercussions for them if their present school community knew at this stage of the search while both De La Salle and the candidates are still in discernment.
After the semi-finalist interviews, finalists are selected by the Search Committee and the names of the candidates will be announced in an appropriate way to the entire school community. Our hope and goal is that each finalist will spend time on campus to help them get a sense of our community. Depending on the COVID situation we may need to make adjustments to how the finalist visits are conducted. These visits are scheduled for early February 2021 (more detailed information and schedules will be provided prior to these visits). Please know that there will be opportunities for the school community members to meet with each of the finalists and provide their thoughts to the Search Committee. After the Search Committee has completed its evaluation of all of the data gathered (including deep reference and background checking) and deliberates, it will be presenting its recommendation to the Board and to the Christian Brothers/Lasallian Education Corporation (LEC) for their review and final decision. Once this is complete, the Board will make an announcement regarding the new President as soon as possible.
As a reminder, our search calendar calls for the identification of the next President to be completed around the end of February 2021. The chosen individual would begin work in July 2021. There will be a variety of opportunities for the new President to meet with members of our community as part of the overall process and to ensure a smooth transition for our new leader.
We will continue to provide regular updates as move through the next stages of the search process.
On behalf of the Board, we thank you in advance for your support of De La Salle High School. We hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Sincerely,
Teresa Hurlbut Frank Wagner
Search Committee Chair Board Chair
Sept. 8 - Announcement from the Search Committee & Board of Trustees
Dear De La Salle High School Alumni,
With the recent announcement of the retirement of Mark DeMarco, the Board of Trustees has begun the process of the search for his replacement. The selection of the new President is one of the Board’s most important responsibilities. In order to continue the outstanding work that Mark has accomplished, we will need to search for an exceptional individual who believes in our mission and shares a love for our students.
The first action in the process was to identify and engage a search firm to assist us in this all-important task. We have selected Educational Directions of Portsmouth, Rhode Island, as our partner. Educational Directions was founded in 1987 and is a highly respected national firm.
The search will be led by Mathew Heersche and Risa Oganesoff Heersche. Mathew and Risa bring deep experience both as educational leaders in Catholic education (primarily in California) and as search professionals, as well as expertise and enthusiasm to our search. In addition, they have worked with a number of Christian Brothers schools in their search for new leadership and so they are very familiar with the Christian Brothers charism as well as governance and leadership structures.
An important first step is for Mathew and Risa to learn as much as possible about De La Salle High School. They will be meeting with members of all stakeholder groups within the school (students, faculty, parents, administrators, Alumni Board members, Board members) to learn about the school and what we seek in our next leader.
Among the key questions that they will ask include:
- What makes De La Salle High School special, i.e. what differentiates it from other schools?
- What are De La Salle High School’s short- and long-term aspirations?
- What are the perceived challenges and opportunities for the school at this time? and
- What experience/leadership styles/personality traits will best meet those needs within our culture?
We would very much appreciate your thoughts on the future of De La Salle High School. To that end we are inviting you to participate in an online survey. You can access the survey at the following link: President Search Survey Link
From all of the information gathered from all of the various constituents, Mathew and Risa, with the Search Committee, will develop a search prospectus to be used as part of their overall marketing and recruitment efforts. We will, of course, share this document with all members of the De La Salle High School community once it is completed.
Our search professionals will be reaching out both locally and nationally. They will notify individual Catholic educational leaders, executive directors of educational and other organizations, a variety of Catholic educational leadership programs and regional school associations of our opening. Over the next few months, they will be identifying and evaluating top prospects.
Our goal is to ascertain a group of top-level candidates and then narrow that number down to five to seven individuals with whom the Search Committee will conduct interviews. From that group will come with up to three finalists who will be visiting us sometime in late January/early February. There will be opportunities for school community members to meet each of the finalists. Upon completion of evaluation of all of the data gathered (including deep reference checking) and deliberation, the Committee will present its recommendation of their final selection to the Board of Trustees. Since De La Salle High School is a Lasallian institution within the San Francisco New Orleans District, district leadership must also ratify the President selection. Once this is complete, the Board will make an announcement regarding the new President as soon as possible.
Our calendar calls for identification and engagement of the next President of De La Salle High School to be completed by the end of February, 2021. There will be an organized transition process culminating with the new President commencing work on or about July, 2021.
We look forward to the search process and will keep all members of our school community informed as to its progress via regular updates. All information pertaining to the search will be posted on the President search page on our website.
Sincerely,
Teresa Hurlbut, Ed.D. Frank Wagner
Search Committee Chair Board Chair
Press Release (Sept. 3) - President DeMarco to Retire after 2020-21 School Year
On Tuesday, September 1, the De La Salle High School Board of Trustees announced that school President, Mark DeMarco ‘78, will be retiring at the end of the 2020-21 school year. Mark DeMarco has served as the De La Salle President since 2007, when he was named the school’s first Alumni President.
“I want to thank the parents, students, the countless volunteers, and benefactors who have contributed to the success of the school and the mission of Saint John Baptist de La Salle and will continue to do so in the future”, said DeMarco. “I also would like to thank the Faculty and Staff for their commitment to the Mission – the school is successful because we all work together and have a great partnership with parents as the primary educators of their sons.”
A graduate and former teacher, DeMarco was appointed by the Board of Trustees as President of De La Salle High School on July 1, 2007. With broad experience in administration, organizational and strategic planning, he has more than 30 years in educational teaching and management stretching from elementary through high school. Prior to returning to De La Salle in 2007, DeMarco served as assistant, then Superintendent of Schools for the Diocese of Oakland. He has served on a number of boards throughout his career including the California Catholic State Superintendents (chair), the Western Catholic Education Association, the University of San Francisco Institute for Catholic Educational Leadership and the California Private School Advisory Committee where he was appointed by the State Superintendent for Public Instruction.
In the announcement released to the parents earlier this week, De La Salle Board of Trustees Chair, Frank Wagner ‘73, said, “We appreciate all of Mark’s excellent accomplishments, and cherish how he’s placed our students, the school, our community, and our Lasallian Catholic mission above himself. He leaves the school in a strong financial position, with an excellent academic reputation, significant enhancements to the school’s facilities, and a legacy of enabling students to become young men of faith, integrity, and scholarship.”
Brother Donald Johanson, FSC, Visitor of the District of San Francisco New Orleans, expressed his gratitude for Mark’s efforts at the school, “We are grateful for Mark’s leadership and lifelong dedication to De La Salle High School. From his days as a student and throughout the time since he first returned to campus, Mark’s commitment to the De La Salle community has never wavered. I wish him the very best in his retirement from a long career devoted to Catholic education.”
Under DeMarco’s leadership at De La Salle, the school completed a highly successful comprehensive campaign that led to the building of a new Science, Technology, Robotics, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STREAM) Innovation Center, the Ladouceur Athletic Performance Center, and a new Learning Center. During the campaign, the school secured the largest individual gift to a high school in the country (at the time of gift) $25 million from the late Kenneth H. Hofmann, which included a $15 million endowment for financial aid.
During his tenure, the school further enhanced and created the Bishop John S. Cummins Scholarship Program in 2007 to ensure that students from diverse social, cultural, and economic backgrounds have the opportunity to experience educational excellence. The Bishop Cummins Scholarship Program provides significant tuition assistance, additional financial support for many incidentals, and a challenging and supportive learning environment. Bishop Cummins Scholars are offered the opportunity to succeed and are taught the skills and habits that make academic success possible.
Considered an innovator with leadership, he transformed the school’s leadership model to one of a collegiate framework when he established the President’s Cabinet in 2016.
The De La Salle Board of Trustees has retained a highly recognized and capable search firm, Educational Directions, to lead the nation-wide search for DeMarco’s successor.
Sept. 1 - Letter to Families from Board of Trustees Chair
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Sept. 1 - Retirement announcement from President Mark DeMarco '78
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