New principal leads push to open Communion of Saints preschool

Gerry Whiteley is the new principal at Communion of Saints School. Photo courtesy Communion of Saints School.

Communion of Saints School, which offers kindergarten through eighth-grade Catholic education, plans to open a new preschool program next fall, with classrooms for 3-year-olds and 4- to 5-year-olds.

“Shortly after joining Communion of Saints School as the principal this past July, the parents approached me with the idea of opening a preschool,” said Principal Gerry Whiteley. “The more I researched the possibility and learned about our facility, the more I became convinced that we needed to open a preschool. The excitement of the parents was infectious; their mission became my mission—to offer a Catholic-based preschool program to augment our existing . . . offerings.”

Whiteley came to Communion of Saints after completing the Principal Licensure Program at Ursuline College. Before that, she taught for 18 years at St. Joan of Arc School in Chagrin Falls, preceded by a year at St. Pius X in Bedford.

A native of Pittsburgh, Whitely first worked as a marketing analyst in Boston after earning a bachelor’s degree from Bowling Green State University.

After moving to Cleveland with her husband in 1986, she said she was drawn to education, and earned her master’s degree in education from Ursuline College.

“I decided to devote myself to Catholic education in order to be able to shape children spiritually as well as intellectually,” Whitely said. “I believe that as a community we are raising the next generation of Catholics who will continue the mission of spreading God’s Word and being stewards of our planet. It is important that everyone is involved in this undertaking; it is why we exist. In partnership with the parents, Communion of Saints provides a strong education both academically and spiritually, and I am honored to be a part of the process.”

More information about the preschool is available at www.communionofsaintsschool.org.