Interview with New School President, Faustin Weber

Editor’s note: After a nationwide search, our pastor, Fr. Michael, with the approval of the School Advisory Council and the Diocese of Dallas, hired Mr. Faustin Weber as the new POP president. His first official day was Monday, October 17, 2022.

Q. Welcome, Mr. Weber, to POP! So first things first--tell us about your family!

A. Thank you! I am excited to be here! Diane and I met 37 years ago as new high school teachers, she in Science and Math, I in English and Theology. We got married in June after that first year, with a good portion of the student body in attendance. We’ve since had 4 children-- three boys and a girl—who are now between 27 and 35 years old. Our oldest son, Faus, lives in Columbus OH with his wife and three children and works in marketing. Our second son, Aaron, is married, lives in Nashville and travels around the country as a stand-up comedian. Our third son, Daniel, works as a computer engineer for a genetics firm in Huntsville. Cynthia, our daughter, is married to Grant Schmidt. They’re both lawyers, live in Dallas, and have four daughters, ages 6, 5, 3 and 1. They’re the reason we were drawn to the DFW area.

Q. Welcome to Texas, then! But where did you live previously?

A. Fairhope, Alabama, on the shores of the Mobile Bay. I grew up in Mobile. The Archdiocese opened a new high school there in 2016 and asked me to be its founding principal. Starting a new school from scratch was a challenge, but it was also a lot of fun.

Q. What was “fun” about it? “Principal” and “fun” are not usually words that go together!

A. Wait a minute! Catholic school administrators can be fun! We had a lot of cool things happen: Since this is an NFL town (Go Cowboys!), folks might be intrigued to learn that we hired Philip Rivers, former QB for the Chargers and Colts, as our head football coach when he retired from the NFL a couple of years ago. He’s a great guy—a good coach and a good Catholic man. I’ve always loved sports, so that’s been fun. Also, we doubled the size of our campus by buying adjacent land; we built some additional facilities, hired some really fine teachers, secured a few legacy gifts, maxed out our enrollment, and other stuff. The school has been a huge success.

Q. So why did you leave, then?

A. Well, it wasn’t easy. My mother and sister still live in Mobile, and I have a lot of affection for the people I worked with, but I felt like I had completed the job I was hired for—to start the school and help get it on its feet. And during my seven years as principal, Diane and I added 7 grandchildren, so there was the pull to be closer to them. Diane was spending a lot of time in Dallas helping Cynthia with her four girls, so I’ve been telling people I took a job in Dallas to see more of my wife!

Q. Looking over your resume, you’ve been more of a high school guy than an elementary school one. What led you to POP?

A. Well, it’s true I’ve worked more at the high school level. I was principal of Catholic High in Montgomery, AL from 1989-2001, then president of Montgomery Catholic Preparatory School (MCPS) from 2001-2008, head of school at John Paul II High School in Nashville from 2008-2015, and the principal of St. Michael in Fairhope from 2015 until now. But during the years I was president of MCPS, I was over two elementary schools, and we built a separate middle school on the high school campus, so I have those seven years with K-8.

Why the pivot? For the first time in 34 years, I won’t have to go to a high school homecoming dance!

More seriously, most of my life I’ve worked for the Church broadly speaking—the bishop, the diocese, the pastors and parishes of the region of the high school I’ve led. I am looking forward to working directly for a single parish-- this one--and Fr. Forge as its pastor. I’ve been able to attend weekly Mass here this first week, right here on campus (well, almost). I’ve never been able to do that. What gives me confidence is that I am president of the school, and not the principal. Meghan Jones, our principal, is fantastic, and I am happy to defer to her for the day to day matters. My job here is more long term, strategic, focused on operational vitality. I think we’ll make a great team.

Q. What do you think makes for a good school?

A. Every school’s different, and there’s no one answer to that. But generally speaking, a school’s culture is most important—what its academic expectations are, what opportunities it provides its students, the authenticity and joyfulness of the lived faith of its adults and students, its tie to the parish, the contributions of its parents, via coaching, via PVC involvement, Advisory Council, or whatever else. People often think of a school as a “pie” of a certain size. If one feature of the school is improving, it’s taking a bigger “slice,” and the other features must be getting smaller slices. If the athletic program is improving, for example, the academic program must be diminishing. If the arts are rising, then the athletic program must be falling. I don’t believe that. An important part of my job as president here is to help create a bigger pie. Athletics can improve without harming academics. The Arts can improve without lessening athletic programs. It isn’t “either-or,” but “both-and.”

And I think we should encourage kids to think this way about themselves, too! If a kid is a good athlete, fantastic! But we want them to get involved in the Arts and work hard in the classroom, too. And that works in every direction —we don’t want our kids to put all their energies into any single basket.

To give you a visual of what I mean, one of the best moments for me in my last school happened just before a varsity football game. The band played the national anthem. Four football players, in uniform, picked up an instrument, played with the band, then went into the game for the kickoff. I believe our children flourish when they’re invested in many things. Our school flourishes when it’s committed to excellence in all of its endeavors.

Q. Do you have any specific plans for the school?

A. It’s a mistake, I think, for a new school leader to come in and start changing things without understanding the reasons things are as they are. My biggest goal for the remainder of this year is to get to know everybody and assemble as much data as I can to understand the school from the inside out. The truth is people are talented here. But people might start noticing small things sooner— and if they’re the right changes, they’ll have a larger cumulative impact. I don’t know what those will be at this point—I am only just beginning. There’s a chess set in my office. I know it’s a huge cliché, but I used to be a tournament chess player, and I tend to think big picture and long term.

Q. OK, fair enough. But what are your first impressions of POP?

A. That I can say! Competent, kind teachers and staff. Joyful students. Strong, committed principal. I was able to attend the varsity football game last weekend and witnessed a lot of school pride, both in the players and cheerleaders, and in the parents in the stands. It seems like a wonderful place--I am excited to be here. May God bless our work together!