Faustin Weber was hired in July, 2015 to begin St. Michael Catholic High School, which opened in August, 2016.
A native of Mobile, Weber attended St. Ignatius from K-6, Most Pure Heart of Mary in 7-8, and graduated from McGill-Toolen High School in 1980. Upon earning an undergraduate degree (Liberal Arts, Theology) and graduate degree (M.A. Systematic Theology), both from the University of Notre Dame, he was hired in 1985 as an English and Theology teacher at Catholic High School in Montgomery, Al. Four years later, at the age of 27, he became Catholic High's principal in a president-principal model with Dr. Thomas Doyle, Vicar of Education for the Archdiocese of Mobile. When Doyle was hired by the University of Notre Dame as Academic Director of the A.C.E. program in 2001, Archbishop Oscar Lipscomb named Weber as president of the school, a post he held from 2001--2008. Then in 2008, Weber took the job as headmaster of Pope John Paul II High School in Nashville, TN, and led that school until 2015, before returning "home" to start a brand new high school. He was announced as the first principal of St. Michael Catholic High School by Superintendent Ms. Gwen Byrd and Archbishop Thomas Rodi during the school's ground-breaking ceremony in March of 2015.
St. Michael has been blessed with growth in its first two years. The school opened in 2016 with 99 students (9th and 10th grades), 192 students in 2017 (9th through 11th), and is projected to have 300 students in 2018 and 350 (max capacity) in 2019. In the spring of 2018, to secure its future in light of probable development in the area surrounding the school, St. Michael purchased 40 additional adjacent acres of land, bringing the total to 80 acres. A capital campaign to begin building the school's athletic facilities will start in the 2018-19 school year.
During his 7-year term as headmaster of Pope John Paul II, Weber helped the school deepen its Catholic identity, strengthen the A.P. program (109 A.P. Scholars in 2015), restructure the school's debt, increase school giving, secure multiple estate gifts, reconfigure the administrative team, create the “JPII Center for Scholarly Engagement,” expand foreign exchange programs, and professionalize the school’s marketing plan. Philanthropic efforts resulted in 5.2 million dollars of charitable giving in a 7-year time period. Significant capital improvements during his tenure included a new track/soccer stadium, a renovated football stadium, a concessions/restroom pavilion, batting cages, upgraded weight-rooms, new offices, a "Way of the Cross" prayer garden, a new conference room, and a renovated library.
While president in Montgomery from 2001-2008, Weber was in placed in charge of two K-8 Catholic elementary schools and the Catholic high school. Faced with slowly declining enrollments, he initiated a strategic planning process that resulted in changing the two K-8 schools into K-6 schools, building a 7-8 middle school, combining these with the high school, and forming "Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School," a single K-12 school on three campuses, with one Board and one finance office. Significant capital improvements during his tenure included the middle school, new athletic fields, a field house/wrestling facility, a new academic wing, a cafeteria/multi-use facility, and a chapel. K-12 enrollment grew by 35% from 2004-2008 as a result of these and other improvements.
Of the 29 years he has been principal, president or headmaster of Catholic high schools, Weber has taught at least one class for all but two of those years, "and by October both years," Weber adds, "I regretted my decision not to teach. The truth is, teaching is the most important work we do, and for me, the most joyful part of my job. High school kids are a lot of fun. The world is opening up to them: they're beginning to think for themselves, asking a lot of questions, challenging things they've always taken for granted. They're at a critical time when they're trying to decide if their faith is going to be an artifact from their childhood, or if it's going to inform and shape their adult lives. Catholic schools, if they're done right, create disciples. That's why I believe Catholic schools are so important, and why I regard it as a privilege to be in the classroom with them through this process."
Weber enjoys writing. He's written for a diverse array of publications, including Commonweal, America, St. Anthony's Messenger, Catholic Digest, Momentum, Today's Catholic Teacher, Catholic Week, Montgomery Advertiser, The Tennessee Register, Montgomery Parent and strangely, the Alabama Journal for Dentistry (Weber: "I knew the editor.") He wrote a textbook for his Catholic Social Ethics class entitled, Let Justice Surge Like the Waters, which traced the history of Catholic social teaching from Leo XIII to the present, and then re-purposed that book into an on-line course, which at one point was used by Catholic schools across the country for restoration of theology credits. He currently maintains two blogs, "Catholic Educator," which began in 2005 and aims at "all things Catholic," and "Ideas in Catholic Education," a blog for leaders in Catholic schools, focusing on ways to help with the long-term sustainability of Catholic education.
Other hobbies include chess, Scrabble, guitar, a little piano, watching all sports ("Well", he clarifies, "not NASCAR."), and technological gadgetry ("My wife curtails my spending on this front."). He and Diane, his wife of 32 years, have four children ranging from 31 to 23 years old: Faus, Cynthia, Aaron and Daniel. They live in Daphne, AL and attend Christ the King Catholic Church.
Contact info: fweber@stmichaelchs.org
