New Principal Coach will support Catholic identity and academic excellence

Although born just an hour away, Mary Jo Aiken took a long and winding road to come to Buffalo. The new principal coach for Catholic Schools has earned three master’s degrees, attended rocket launches, and even started her own school in Michigan.

In this newly created role, Aiken will work primarily with the 10 new principals in the diocese. “Some are brand new to principaling, some are brand new to their buildings. I’m going to help them transition into their new roles and their new locations,” she said. “I’m responsible for supporting them in Catholic identity and academic excellence and student enrichment and operational responsibilities.” That includes the day-to-day tasks of budgeting, working with their boards, and assuring a positive workplace.

Aiken plans to have weekly Zoom sessions and plenty of onsite visits.

She met several of the new principals at an annual principals’ meeting at Southtowns Catholic in August.

“First impressions? Wow. What an incredible group of people we have here,” she said. “How were they found? How were they located? They’re all very, very committed to Catholic education and it was just wonderful to hear them. They were very open to receiving help and advice, which is what I love to give. It was a really good meeting.”

Her goals are to enable principals to address the myriad needs of the administrative position. 

“It is so different being a parochial or regional principal from being a public school principal,” Aiken explained, “because our principals in the Catholic School system do everything, and don’t have a lot of people to delegate to. We’re trying to help them to do some delegating to people in their organization. And be there to mentor, to mother, to nurture and make them feel fulfilled in their roles.”

The East Amherst resident retired as principal of St. Mary School in Swormville in 2021. She was previously principal of Fourteen Holy Helpers School in West Seneca.

“I have a very diverse past,” she says as a way of introduction.

Her first course of study was epidemiology – the branch of medicine which deals with the incidence, distribution, and possible control of diseases and other factors relating to health. She first started teaching biology and microbiology at Nardin Academy in Buffalo. Then, wanting to move into a more medical application, she started UB School of Social and Preventive Medicine. That master’s degree earned her jobs at Westinghouse Electric Corporation; BioTechnology Inc., which had NASA as a client; and General Research Corporation.

A student of Montessori education, she wanted her three daughters to have the same experience. So, she and her husband opened the Christian Montessori School of Ann Arbor, where Aiken served as head of school for seven years.

“We really believed in Montessori education for our children, and actually all children,” she said. “I am a Montessorian also. We weren’t happy with the schools when we moved to Ann Arbor that were available to our kiddos. So having kiddos brought me back to education. At that point we founded Christian Montessori School of Ann Arbor. Thus began my course back into education and educational administration.”

Twenty-five years later, the school is still growing.

Aiken then moved to Venice, California in the Diocese of Los Angeles to serve as principal of St. Mark Elementary School before coming back to Buffalo as principal of Fourteen Holy Helpers in West Seneca, and then to St. Mary School in Swormville.

 Now she helps principals with maximizing Catholic identity in the classroom, and creating a culture of learning and an open environment. She also wants to build trust between teachers and parents.

“When you have that you can reach for the stars.”