Sister Marie Myers SSJ-TOSF
40 years of service

Sister Marie Myers began her ministry as a teacher at St. Joachim School in Hayward in 1967. Later she became principal there. In 1986 she became founding principal of St. Raymond School in Dublin, opening the school with grades K through 4. The first class graduated in 1991. She oversaw the construction of the permanent school, completed in 1996. The following year she became principal of St. Barnabas School in Alameda.

“She has modeled a life of faith and service for the thousands of students who have entered the doors of the schools she has served,” said one of her former students at St. Joachim, Armond Seishas, who is now principal there.

Sister Myers has been a professed member of the Sisters of St. Joseph-Third Order of St. Francis for 53 years

Marilyn Marchi
34 years of service

Marilyn Marchi, a graduate of Holy Names College and the University of San Francisco, taught at Holy Rosary School in Antioch and St. Agnes School in Concord before becoming principal of All Saints School in Hayward, where she served for seven years. For the past nine years she has been principal of St. Philip Neri School in Alameda.

“I decided to become a teacher when I was a little girl...like Scripture says, I set my hand to the plow and never looked back,” Marchi said. “I have loved every day of my ministry, I know the saying, “Teach and touch the future,” is very true.”

Mary Bergamini
33 years of service

Mary Bergamini started teaching at St. Catherine of Siena School in Martinez in 1969 and has worked tirelessly ever since, most recently as 8th grade teacher and vice-principal. One of her five childen, Janeen, began her teaching career at the school this year and another faculty member is a former student.

“Mary can best be described as loving, devoted, caring, and faithful,” said Andrew von Haunalter, principal.

Jim Borelli
29 years of service

Jim Borelli is retiring from Saint Mary’s High School in Berkeley after 29 years as teacher, coach, and administrator. He was the first lay principal of the high school (1990-1995) and was instrumental in the school’s 1995 transition to coeducation. He was one of the first lay delegates to the Christian Brothers’ District of San Francisco Chapter in 1999.

That same year, he was among the first participants in the annual “India Immersion” program sponsored by the District, which sends teachers and staff from Christian Brothers’ schools to do service work in Lasallian schools and orphanages in India and Sri Lanka.

Joseph Connell
29 years of service

Joseph Connell came to Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward in 1978 as principal and served in the position until he was appointed the school’s president in 1985.

He is a member and immediate past president of the diocesan School Board. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees at Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley; Board of Directors of the St. Anthony Foundation in San Francisco; Board of Managers of the North Coast Section, California Interscholastic Federation; and a member of the City of Hayward’s Redevelopment Agency Committee.

Madeleine de la Fontaine-Beaudoin
26 years

Madeleine de la Fontaine-Beaudoin came to the Oakland Diocese in 1981 as a teacher at St. Barnabas School in Alameda. She remained there until 1990 when she was appointed principal of St. Bede School in Hayward, a post she held for 10 years. Since 2000, she served as principal of St. Theresa School in Oakland.

Mitch Calegari
16 years of service

Mitch Calegari leaves Berkeley’s School of the Madeleine after 14 years as principal, capping a 41-year career as an educator. He was a teacher at Columbus School (now Rosa Parks School) in Berkeley, principal at Berkeley’s Thousand Oaks School and principal for two years at St. Paschal Baylon School in Oakland before coming to the Madeleine.

After earning his B.A. degree in 1964, he joined the National Teacher Corps and taught farm workers near Watsonville.

During his tenure at the Madeleine he added resource teachers, introduced computer classes and oversaw the seismic retrofit to the school building.

“My whole approach to administration was to get the best people I could and do everything possible to back them up, give them respect, and let them fly on their own,” he said.

Gerald Marchi
12 years of service

After a successful business career, Gerald Marchi became a teacher at Oakland’s St. Paschal Baylon School in 1995, a post he held until 1998 when he assumed leadership of St. Cornelius School in Richmond. He also served as interim principal at St. Mary’s School in Walnut Creek in 2005.

For the past one and one-half years he has been principal of St. Felicitas School in San Leandro, where he earned high praise for his collaborative style and commitment to education for all students, including those with academic and behavioral challenges.