CATHOLIC DIOCESE GETS NEW HEAD OF SCHOOLS

Sister Jane Hosch plans to hit the highway this school year, visiting 23 Catholic elementary schools and three high schools she oversees as superintendent of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese's school system.

Hosch takes over for Sister Lucille Kalinowski, who died in a January traffic accident.

The new superintendent was in Cape Girardeau this week meeting faculty and getting an update on construction of the Notre Dame High School.

She plans to visit all of the schools in the diocese during her first months on the job.

"I'll be on the road again," she said, "and I'll be back."

Hosch said Catholic school enrollment in southern Missouri is experiencing growth as evidenced by the Notre Dame High School construction here and an expansion under way at the Catholic high school in Springfield.

"We must be giving parents something they want," said Hosch. "I have found the schools very committed to quality education and a spiritual foundation."

Hosch said her territory -- all of southern Missouri -- is large, but she is used to overseeing a large area. Before coming to Missouri, Hosch served as superintendent of schools in the diocese of Charleston, S.C. That post included all of South Carolina.

She is a member of Sisters of St. Francis based in Dubuque, Iowa. The organization is dedicated to service, she said.

"We go where the need is," she said, pointing out southern Missouri needed a school superintendent, so she took the job.

As diocesan superintendent, Hosch performs many of the same duties as a public school superintendent -- budgeting and helping school boards and administrators run schools.

She earned a doctorate in educational leadership from St. Louis University, a master's degree in educational administration from Clarke College and a bachelor's degree in social sciences from Briar Cliff College.

She also received continuing education at schools in London, Paris and Jerusalem, among other universities.

Hosch has been a speaker at many national meetings on topics including the role of school boards to the ministry of teaching.