Schumacher named Pope John, St. Boniface principal, administrator

St. Boniface and Pope John Central Catholic XXIII have announced Lisa Schumacher as principal and administrator.

She assumes the position following the retirement of Betty Getzfred, who served as principal for a dozen years and spent 44 years in the school system.

The announcement was made Monday, by Father John Norman, school president.

A graduate of St. Boniface and Pope John, Schumacher earned an undergraduate degree in elementary and middle school education, with an emphasis in math and science, from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

She earned a master's degree in P - 8 administration in 2010 and received her high school administration endorsement in 2020, from Wayne State College.

Schumacher's teaching career started at St. Michael's School, in Albion, in 1992. In 2008, she was named the school's principal.

As a school leader, Schumacher is growth oriented, collaborative, loves leading with faith and being an example of Christ's love for others. She feels that seeing kids grow academically and then watching them turn to God when life challenges them, makes education the best job ever. She is fully invested in supporting the Pope John/St. Boniface mission to "foster the spiritual and academic growth of students, while preparing them to live a moral, faith-filled life based on Catholic values."

Schumacher and her husband, Kevin, live near Petersburg. They are parents to Taylor, Kyle and Kaitey and one grandchild, Theo. All three children attended or are currently attending Pope John/St. boniface Catholic Schools.

The Schumachers are members of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Petersburg.

Norman said the search process was chaired by Fr. Kevin Vogel.

"We gathered input from our faculty, staff and parents, as to what we should prioritize in our search process. We reviewed the feedback as we set our search criteria. From the applications that we received, we scheduled and conducted interviews with those we felt were the strongest candidates.," Norman said.

Search committee members included Chris Nelson of the Archdiocese of Omaha Catholic Schools Office, Vogel, Norman and Fr. Pat Nields, one member of the St. Boniface School Advisory Board, one member of the Pope John School Advisory Board, two teachers selected by faculty and one support staff member.

Norman said, "One of things that differentiates what we look for in an administrator of a Catholic school is Catholic identity. Our school exists to be a place of formation in living our Catholic Christian faith. We were blessed to have several candidates that could express the importance of their faith and the role of faith in education."