Springfield Bishop William D. Byrne has appointed Maria P. Wagner as the new superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Springfield. Wagner, currently the principal of St. Bernadette School in Hollywood, Fla., has served in a variety of professional areas including logistics engineering, education, and administration. For the last nine years, Wagner has served as principal of St. Bernadette School. In addition to administration, Wagner has served the Archdiocese of Miami as curriculum specialist, standardized testing coordinator, math subject leader, teacher, and member of the Principals Action Committee (PAC). She has served on several accreditation team reviews for the Florida Catholic Conference (FCC) and successfully led the reaccreditation of St. Bernadette School in 2021. Her teaching career began in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia where she taught sixth grade, helped develop the science curriculum and presented at the Near East South Asia (NESA) Teaching Conference in Istanbul, Turkey. She has taught in Northern Virginia and South Florida as well as online for Florida Virtual School as a tutor. Wagner is the mother of three children and is fully fluent in Spanish. She earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from the University of Notre Dame and master’s degree in educational technology leadership from George Washington University. She is currently accredited in Florida for teaching mathematics to students in grades five through nine and in educational leadership. Prior to her teaching years, and after graduating from college, Wagner worked as an engineer for Pratt & Whitney and TRW. She hopes to assume her new position no later than mid-April.
The Catholic Mirror | Spring 2023 | www.thecatholicmirror.org