St. Joseph High School Announces Appointment of Director of College & School Counseling

Ever mindful of the future success of their students, the St. Joseph High School community continues to make strategic progress to elevate the college preparatory learning experience.  With student outcomes in focus, the school, after a rigorous search process, will welcome Terence “Terry” Houlihan as Director of College & School Counseling effective July 1.

“Terence Houlihan comes to St. Joes with proven success as a school leader. He is an expert with a keen insight into adolescent development and best practices for teaching and behavioral strategies for working with teenagers. He’s published many times over on this complex topic,” remarked St. Joes President, David Klein. “Terry’s wealth of knowledge and charismatic ability to share his expertise with students, parents, and faculty will serve to elevate our College & School Counseling program.”

“Whether it’s been a brief interaction with students or an in-depth conversation with current faculty, the sense of ‘community’ at St. Joseph High School has been very real for me.  I feel honored to be joining this community.” Terry shared.

Houlihan arrives to St. Joseph High School with over 16 years of combined counseling experience at Ridgefield High School and Iona Preparatory School. He is an adjunct lecturer at Fairfield University’s Graduate Program in School Counseling and lectured at Lehman College’s Graduate Studies School of Education where he focused on Developmental School Counseling and has previously served as a Psychology Teacher and Religious Studies Department Chair. Terence is often an American School Counselor Association National Conference presenter, most recently providing a two-hour session at the Las Vegas Conference on “Exploring Teen Brain Development.” He holds a Master’s of Science in Education, a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities, and a CT Intermediate Administrator Certification.

Terence’s appointment is a result of an important decision to expand St. Joseph High School’s College & School Counseling Office’s services in order to better prepare all Cadets for post-secondary success. Terence believes “The key to a healthy relationship is communication.  I intend to communicate with and foster collaborative relationships between the College and School Counseling Office and all stakeholders at St. Joseph High School: parents, teachers, students, administrators and the greater community.” Seven other members of St. Joseph High School’s college counseling office will report to Houlihan, who reports directly to the head of school as part of the senior leadership team.