NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Father James “Jim” Heuser, SDB began his service as the new President of Salesian High School on July 1, 2021. He succeeds Father John Serio, SDB, who led the school community from 1992-1998 and again from 2013-2021, and was beloved by many for his warm relational capacity with both students and families alike.
“I am delighted to join the Salesian High School Community as it just marked its centennial year in 2020,” said Father Jim. “Salesian has a long history of being a home, school, church and playground for the young — a great school, not because it is old, but old because it is great. I will give my best to lead it into its second century of service to the young so that it may continue to be transformative of hearts, in the spirit of St. John Bosco.”
Father Jim comes to Salesian from Don Bosco Prep High School in Ramsey, New Jersey. During his 11 years of school leadership there, he worked with Salesians and laity to strengthen the educative and pastoral community with a clear focus on the young. Don Bosco’s campus was transformed with the construction of a new academic building, Savio Hall; a new chapel, Sacred Heart Chapel; a turf baseball field; a health and wellness center; and more. New educative pathways were introduced in the areas of business, engineering, and communications. And the school was re-incorporated with a new governance model involving Salesians and laity.
Before his assignment at Don Bosco Prep, Father Heuser was provincial for the Salesians in the eastern United States and Canada from 2003 to 2009 and vice provincial from 1997-2003. He has also worked in the areas of vocational recruitment and formation of young Salesians.
“In my visits to Salesian High School over the years, I always found a place where ‘education was a matter of the heart,’ as St. John Bosco advocated. My first days here have convinced me that it still is,” Father Jim commented.
“In these next months, I look forward to meeting many more of its students, families, educators, and alumni in the weeks and months ahead, and working together with them to strengthen Salesian as a home, school, church and playground for the young.”
Salesian High School is an all-boys Catholic high school in New Rochelle, NY, founded in 1920. The school is operated by the Salesians of Don Bosco and part of the Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of New York.