East Catholic High School is a private, college preparatory high school located in Manchester, Connecticut, United States, under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Hartford. The parochial school was founded in 1961 and is inspired by the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. East Catholic is the only school in the Archdiocese of Hartford that has had the continued presence of its founding order throughout its history. In the 2011–2012 school year, East had 690 students in grades 9–12, with 47 teachers. Students are representatives of 36 towns and cities in the Greater Hartford area, central Connecticut, and central Massachusetts. In athletics, the school competes in the Central Connecticut Conference. Awards and recognition During the 1988–89 school year, East Catholic High School was recognized with the Blue Ribbon School Award of Excellence by the United States Department of Education, the highest award an American school can receive from the United States Department of Education. East Catholic is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and the State of Connecticut, and is a member of the National Catholic Educational Association, the Connecticut Association of Independent Schools, the Connecticut Association of Schools and the Schools of the Archdiocese of Hartford. Leadership Over its history, East Catholic has been led by eight different principals. Starting in 2017, the school administration structure changed to incorporate the position "Head of School" in addition to the traditional principal role. In 2020, the administration changed the “Head of School” and principal roles to “President” with “Deans” of Academics and Students. Rev. Charles Shaw, founding Principal (1961–1970) (died in 2011) Rev. Robert Saunders, Principal (1970–1981) (died in 1997) Rev. William Charbonneau '65, Principal (1981–1986), President (1987–1996) (died in 2010) Peg Siegmund, Principal and Chief Administrator (1986–2005) Bette Gould, SSJ, Interim Principal (2005–2006) (died in 2014) Christian J. Cashman, Principal & Chief Administrator (2006–2010) Karen Juliano, Ed.D., Interim Principal (2010–2011) Jason S. Hartling, Principal & Chief Administrator (2011–2016) Thomas E. Maynard, Interim Principal & Chief Administrator (2016-2017) Ryan P. Hinton, Principal (2017 to 2020) Thomas E. Maynard, Head of School (2018 to 2019) Val Mara, Interim Head of School (2019-2020) Sean P. Brennan ‘85, President (2020-) Janice Reilly, Dean of Students (2020-) Gina Burby, Dean of Academics (2021-) Athletics Long-time Athletic Director and Varsity Soccer Coach Tom Malin led the boys' soccer team to his 300th career win against Middletown on October 17, 2007. In