Holy Trinity School selects local businessman as head of school

LACONIA — A local man with a background in business management and youth development has been chosen to lead the area’s only Catholic school.

Vincent “Butch” Schuck has been named head of school for Holy Trinity Catholic School, located in Laconia. He was appointed to the post effective May 1, by David Thibeault, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Manchester, which oversees Catholic congregations and institutions throughout the state.

Schuck succeeds Francine Young, who had held the position of principal since September 2018.

In the newly created post of head of school, Schuck will carry out many of a principal’s duties, but will also focus on fundraising and community relations.

Schuck, 45, said he was asked to take the post in large part because of his business background. For the past six years Schuck has been chief operating officer of Melcher & Prescott Insurance, based in Laconia.

“They needed someone who would be well versed in the business management of the school, as well as in its core mission,” said Schuck, who holds a master’s degree in business administration and until recently chaired the school’s advisory board.

Prior to joining Melcher & Prescott, Schuck worked at Vermont Academy, a prep school, where he held a position in the admissions office and was a dean. After leaving Vermont Academy he worked for the National Guard Youth Challenge Program, a program for at-risk youth run by the National Guard in 27 states.

One of Schuck’s aims is to increase Holy Trinity’s enrollment to virtually double what it is now.

There are about 60 youngsters enrolled in the pre-K-through-eighth-grade school. That’s about 40 percent fewer students than the school had just three years ago, Schuck said. His goal is to get the enrollment back to between 100 and 120 students, he said.

As part of the restructuring of the school’s leadership Bonnie Perry, a kindergarten-through-third-grade teacher, has assumed additional duties of the new position of academic dean.

Schuck said he sees Holy Trinity’s potential lies in that it is a Catholic school that is open and welcoming to children from all faiths.

“We are a distinction with a difference,” he said. “Catholic schools provide a moral focus. There is a great demand for that.”

He acknowledged that nonpublic schools in the area face a real challenge in attracting students, given the aging demographic of the Lakes Region. But he believes that faith-based education fills a need, given the current times.

“In times of uncertainty people are returning to faith,” he said.

Holy Trinity, which has a faculty of eight full-time and two part-time teachers, recently moved into new renovated quarters on the Sacred Heart Church campus.

The school is also working to launch a summer enrichment camp for children ages 4-12 for seven weeks throughout the summer. While there are questions about how such a program might operate during the current pandemic, Schuck said the program will be a vital service to those families where parents need a place for their children as they return to work. He said he is working with the state Department of Business and Economic Affairs to have programs like the summer program classified as essential businesses.

Also, the school acquired a bus for the 2020-21 school year and will be able to offer transportation for students who live as far away as Alton and Franklin. The bus will also be used for field trips during both summer camp and the coming school year.