Updated April 23 | 4:40 p.m.

School President Mr. Robert Bridges has announced in an email the eight members of the Academic Innovation Team who will help lead the school in the future. Instead of 12 different department chairs, there will be directors for arts and humanities, STEAM, Holy Cross integration and freshman experience.

They are Mrs. Lizabeth Bradshaw and Mr. Mark Matthews, co-directors of arts and humanities; Ms. Shelbi Burnett-Smeathers, director of STEAM; Ms. Ashley Hill, director of Holy Cross integration; Mr. Nick Lyons ’04, director of freshman experience (which initially had been labeled freshman academy).

Math department chairperson Mrs. Lisa Ford has been added to the team to direct the faculty development and evaluation program. “With (Ford) as a member of this team, we believe that we are validating the high value we place on our classroom educators,” Bridges wrote in his email. Mrs. Anne Katz, director of counseling, and Mr. Dennis Thomas, vice principal for academic affairs, make up the rest of the team.

“We envision at least two additional layers of this leadership team that will support our collective efforts in guiding our professional learning communities and our cross-curricular efforts,” Bridges said.

Matthews said he applied because the director’s position is a way to serve both students and teachers. In an email, he wrote, “If I can help make Cathedral a better place for both students and teachers, then I am happy to do so.”

Matthews added that he would work closely with Bradshaw as a co-director of arts and humanities to help create an environment where students can learn and grow. He said, “As we look to the future of Cathedral, we know that we will be preparing our students for an ever changing college and work environment. We hope to be able to prepare our students to meet those future demands as well as we possibly can.”

Hill said she was attracted to the Holy Cross integration position because of her love of how the charisms can assist educators in building a community focused on teaching Gospel values along with the school’s core academic goals. Hill said, “(I want to) help our educators build curriculum and teaching practices that will prepare our students to be useful, empathetic citizens of the global community.”