KNIGHT’S KNIGHT

BACK TO SCHOOL: With nearly two decades at NDBG, Jay Mahoney right fit as interim principal

Jay Mahoney, who has been at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School for 18 years, said of his appointment as interim principal: “What I said to the families, to the kids and to the teachers is I am a coach at heart and this isn’t my building, this is our building and we have to work together to make it a successful school year.” (Mike Matvey photo)

Jay Mahoney probably knows more about the Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons School than almost anyone.

A longtime coach, former athletic director and physical education teacher who graduated from Catholic Central High School, Mahoney has been a fixture at the school for nearly two decades.

When Patrick Moran, the interim principal at NDBG left to take the athletic director’s job at La Salle Institute this summer, Mahoney got a phone call from the Catholic School Office.

“Dr. (Chris) Bott, (superintendent of schools), had called me and we had a conversation,” Mahoney said. “He said we can bring somebody new in and I have probably been here the longest of anyone and I know the kids, I know the families, I care about the school. He asked me what my thoughts were and I said I would much rather (become the interim principal) with some support than have somebody who doesn’t know all the stuff about our building, about our kids, about our families, all the great things that we do.”

And that is exactly what happened as Bott named Mahoney interim principal before the school year started. Mahoney, who played college basketball at Hudson Valley Community College and the University of Mary Washington in Virginia, expects to use a collaborative approach to guide the school.

“What I said to the families, to the kids and to the teachers is I am a coach at heart and this isn’t my building, this is our building and we have to work together to make it a successful school year,” Mahoney said. “Responsibility and accountability; you should be to school on time, you should be dressed properly. Those are the kind of things that are going to make you successful in the future. My goal is to work together to make it a great experience for everyone.”

With Mahoney at the helm along with the dedicated NDBG community of teachers, staff and parents, that is a goal that should be easily met. After all, they are already doing it. Besides the rigorous academics and spiritual development, Mahoney is a big proponent of the students getting involved in as many after-school activities as they can.

“I think that is one of the greatest things that we have, the small-school environment. I tell the kids, get out and do things, put yourself out there.” he said. “Whether it be the art club — Ms. (Sue) Silverstein does a phenomenal job with that — the spring musical, Holy Trinity athletics or NDBG athletics or whatever we have to offer. 

“The year before we had six kids letter in five different varsity sports because we need people to play and we have a small enough school where you can do that. They would be running cross country and on the soccer team in the fall, in the winter they would do indoor track and varsity basketball and in the spring they would do varsity track. That is one of the blessings of being a smaller school, you can do as many things as you would like to.”

Mahoney knows that the family atmosphere and the culture at the school works as he recalled a recent interaction with some NDBG grads.

“We had the Jay Street Italian fest (a couple of weeks ago) and I saw a couple of alums and we were just chatting and they are 25 years old and they are getting married and (they said) ‘Congrats coach, I am so happy that you got the job’ and I said appreciate it.

“One of the kids said the greatest move he ever made was leaving where he was at to come to Gibbons. He said some of the best friends he has are the ones that he graduated with because of the culture and the family environment. I love that. That’s what you want to create. You can learn ELA or math anywhere but some of the intangibles when you leave this place with money can’t buy.”