New Althoff principal is coming from Quincy but has roots in southwestern Illinois
A new principal will take the helm of Althoff Catholic High School on July 1, replacing Dave Harris, who’s retiring after 21 years as an administrator.
Sarah Gass is coming from Quincy Senior High School, where she served three years as assistant principal of curriculum and instruction. She has metro-east roots, graduating from Belleville East High School and formerly serving as an O’Fallon math teacher and Chester principal.
“I am very excited to join Althoff because of the strong sense of family and personalized learning experiences that Althoff offers,” Gass stated in a Q&A that was posted on the school’s Facebook page late Sunday.
Gass couldn’t be reached for further comment Monday.
Bishop Edward K. Braxton of the Catholic Diocese of Belleville hired Gass based on recommendations from a search committee, according to Monsignor John Myler, diocesan spokesman.
Harris was Althoff’s assistant principal before he became principal in 2006. He formerly taught physical education at Hillsboro High School and later business education at Althoff. He coached wrestling and football at both places.
“I just decided it was time to retire,” Harris said Monday. “After 14 years as the principal, seven years as the assistant principal and 30 years in education all together, it just seems like the right time to step back and figure out what I want to do when I grow up.”
Math is her favorite subject
Gass holds a bachelor’s degree in math from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master’s in education from McKendree University, a specialist degree in educational administration from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from McKendree, according to her LinkedIn page.
“I always feel like people come in and hate math, but math was something that not only did I enjoy and appreciate, I wanted to explain to people,” Gass told the Herald-Whig in 2017, when she was hired as Quincy assistant principal at age 34. “There was a method to it. There was some rhyme or reason to it.”
Gass taught math at O’Fallon Township High School from 2007 to 2015 before serving as principal at Chester High School from 2015 to 2017.
For two years, Gass lived in Chester with her three children, Nicholas, Jacob, and Hailey, now ages 11, 10 and 8, while her husband, Chris, worked as orchestra director at Quincy High School, the Herald-Whig reported.
“When this opportunity opened up that we could be in the same town and really make Quincy our home, I couldn’t pass up the chance,” Gass told the newspaper. “I’m very excited to be here. I appreciate all the welcoming comments, the people reaching out to help.”
Second career is possible
Harris, 58, has led Althoff through many challenges, perhaps most notably the construction and 2017 opening of a new football stadium and academic complex. He can’t name one highlight, saying he mainly enjoyed working with young people and helping them succeed in academics and sports.
Harris isn’t ruling out a second career after taking a break.
“I may get an itch to do something,” he said. “That’s possible. And if I find something I want to do, I’ll do it.”
Gass’ parents, Daniel Normansell and the former Jean Peter, graduated from Althoff in 1974 and 1976, respectively. Her father-in-law, Jim Gass, also is an alumnus in the Class of 1971.
The Gass family likes to go boating, water skiing, tubing, swimming and camping, particularly at Kinkaid Lake, according to a profile of Sarah Gass by the SunTimesNews in 2015, when she became principal in Chester.
The family plans to live in O’Fallon.
The announcement of a new Althoff principal comes two months after the school hired a new head football coach, Austin Frazier, to replace Ken Turner, who resigned to coach at St. Mary’s High School in St. Louis.
This story was originally published June 1, 2020 at 2:12 PM.
