Wauwatosa Catholic names new principal

Wauwatosa Catholic School has hired a new principal to guide its accreditation goals and growing enrollment.

Heidi Hernandez has taken over the helm of the 3-year-old kindergarten through eighth-grade school, which was created in September 2011 when St. Bernard and St. Pius X parishes combined their education programs.

Hernandez was an instructional supervisor in the Catholic schools through Nonpublic Educational Services, a Massachusetts-based company that provides tutoring services for more than 15,000 students around the world. She also brings experience as a literacy coach and teacher in the Milwaukee Public School System.

Hernandez has earned two master's degrees: one in curriculum and instruction from Marian University, Fond du Lac, and a second in administrative and instructional leadership from Alverno College.

A search committee chose Hernandez because she proved an "open-minded person of faith who is a good listener and whose love of children is evident," according to a news release announcing her hiring issued by the parishes today.

Wauwatosa Catholic is going through the rigorous process of being accredited as an International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme school that operates under a philosophy of commitment to high quality, challenging internationally minded education and immersion in hands-on activities that help students take an active role in their education.

If accepted, it would be the first Catholic school in the state to have such a program.

In its first school year, Wauwatosa Catholic School had 205 students. School officials project enrollment to top 230 this fall.