DeSales’ president plans departure

DougStrothman-2017-wBy Marnie McAllister, Record Editor
As the new school year begins in August, DeSales High School expects to see its highest enrollment in nearly two decades.

The more than 360 students will be the last to be welcomed by President Doug Strothman, who has led DeSales since the summer of 2006.

A media release issued June 9 announced Strothman’s plan to leave DeSales at the end of the 2017-2018 school year, giving the school time to search for its next president in the interim.

The school’s board of directors credited DeSales’ growth and other progress to Strothman’s leadership, indicating in the media release that he has been “instrumental in the revitalization of DeSales.”

“What Doug has accomplished during his time at DeSales is truly remarkable,” David Price, chair of DeSales’ school board, said in the release. “There is an enthusiasm and confidence about DeSales that goes beyond the obvious growth in facilities and enrollment.

Doug always said he wanted to make DeSales into the place where every student becomes the very best version of himself  — academically, spiritually and athletically. He has unquestionably delivered.”

The 60-year-old school, located in South Louisville at 425 Kenwood Drive, has seen a number of improvements during Strothman’s tenure. He has seen a 25 percent growth in enrollment in the last decade, according to the release, and he’s led the school in two multi-million dollar fundraising campaigns.

Tuition assistance has increased under his leadership and the campus has been improved and expanded, the release said.

In 2014, DeSales began a campaign called “The Time is Now,” which led to the creation of the school’s new multi-use athletic stadium, which opened in August of 2016. The stadium provides the school with its first home varsity football field. The campaign also resulted in renovated classrooms, updated science labs and updates to the school’s technology infrastructure, the release said.

Strothman came to DeSales in 2006 after selling his company and feeling “blessed,” he said during an interview June 12. He decided to give back to the church that had educated him when he was a child of “modest means.”
“One day it dawned on me,” he said. “Go, and give back to the church.”

He served first as parish administrator of St. Stephen Martyr Church and then was asked to consider presidency at DeSales, he said.

Strothman said he’s enjoyed his time at DeSales and is grateful to the faculty, staff and school leaders who, he said, shared in his successful leadership of the school.

“We’ve left a heck of a legacy for the future of the school,” he said. In his last year, Strothman said he plans to show his gratitude to his co-workers and keep running the school responsibly for his successor.

He also plans to continue advancing the school’s message, he said.

“We like to talk about the DeSales experience,” he said. “We really focus on the fact that every student at DeSales is known and cared about.”

Strothman said he doesn’t yet know where he’ll go next — whether he’ll return to the business sector or remain within the church. But he has reached a point in life where he wants to try the next thing, he added.

DeSales is now forming a search committee and plans to announce a new president in the spring of 2018.

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