Nativity School of Worcester Hires New Executive Director and Principal

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Board of Directors of the Nativity School of Worcester, a private Jesuit (Catholic) inner-city middle school for boys living in Main South and other vulnerable neighborhoods of Worcester, has hired a new executive director and new principal.

Matthew A. Brunell, an attorney and former teacher with extensive experience in education policy and strong ties in the Worcester area, will succeed founding executive director Joanne G. McClatchy. Rev. William Campbell, S.J., former executive director of Boston’s Nativity Preparatory School will take a one-year leave from his position as associate chaplain at the College of the Holy Cross and serve as acting principal, succeeding J. Michael Steele.

Brunell was a seventh grade teacher and coach with Teach for America in a poor, inner-city neighborhood of South Phoenix for two years after his graduation from Boston College. He developed his interest in education law and federal and state education policy while working for law firms and concentrated in this area during his studies at Boston College Law School. In his capacity as an attorney, Brunell served as a child advocate in his work with the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts and the Court Appointed Family Law program.

A graduate of St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury, he was a volunteer (with his parents) at the Mustard Seed soup kitchen in Worcester from a very young age.

“I’ve long admired the Nativity model because it promises one of the most fundamental of human rights — the right to an excellent education — while challenging its student body and faculty to stay true to the tenets of Catholic social teaching,” Brunell said. “I look forward to building upon the tremendous foundation laid by Joanne and Brian McClatchy and pursuing the Jesuit educational mission of caring for the mind, body and spirit of our student body.”

Brunell and his wife, Catherine, who is a campus minister at Boston College, live in Natick and are parents of a 17-month-old son.

Fr. Campbell graduated from Holy Cross in 1987 and was ordained in 1998. He also holds degrees from Gonzaga University and Weston Jesuit School of Theology. During his five-year tenure at Boston’s Nativity Prep, the school relocated its entire facilities and successfully completed a $6 million capital campaign. Before returning to Holy Cross as one of the College’s chaplains, Fr. Campbell served as an assistant lecturer in the department of educational studies University of the West Indies, and as an assistant lecturer at St. Michael’s Seminary (both in Kingston, Jamaica). He has also assisted with pastoral ministry at several parishes in Massachusetts and Montana, and currently serves once a month as a celebrant for the daily televised Mass for the Diocese of Worcester. Fr. Campbell recently returned from a year in India and Nepal where he was furthering his Jesuit studies.

Commenting on the appointments, Nativity Board Chairman Charles Weiss said: “In its short history, this school has been blessed with a strong and visionary leadership team. Founding executive director Joanne McClatchy and director of development Brian McClatchy established a legacy that will live on. Matt Brunell and Fr. Campbell fully understand the academic, social and spiritual components central to the Nativity mission, and have extraordinary skill and the deep commitment to excellence that will ensure that every student reaches his highest potential.”

ABOUT NATIVITY SCHOOL OF WORCESTER: Sponsored by the Society of Jesus in New England and the College of the Holy Cross, the Nativity School of Worcester (www.nativityworcester.org) opened its doors in 2003. The school offers a high quality education focused on academic, physical, social, moral and spiritual development to students from low-income urban families who would not otherwise have access to such an education. In June, the school graduated its first class of eighth graders, all entering some of the best high schools in central Massachusetts. With only 15 students in each grade 5 through 8, the school is able to offer intensive instruction and attention, as well as extended day programming, evening study and tutoring, summer camp, and parental involvement. The school is modeled upon the Jesuit-based Nativity Network, which opened its first school in 1971 on the Lower East Side of New York City for students who could not afford private school education. Today, the network consists of 47 private, independent Catholic schools nationwide that promote values including respect for each person’s dignity and potential, a sense of responsibility to assist those in need, social justice and nonviolence.