Doyle named permanent head of St. Mary’s

September 4, 2026 by Sophia Harris, Courtesy of the Daily Item

Mark Doyle’s path to the top job at St. Mary’s began long before he spent 35 years in financial services, served on the school’s board, or returned last year to work with students.

It began when he was a student there himself.

The St. Mary’s Board of Trustees voted Aug. 20 to appoint Doyle as the school’s permanent head, removing the interim title he assumed after former head of school Dr. John Dolan left to become president of Elmira College.

The board initially planned to conduct an extensive search for Dolan’s successor, Chair William Mosakowski said, but Doyle’s early work in the position changed those plans.

“Mr. Doyle has demonstrated the leadership, passion and deep institutional knowledge needed to lead St. Mary’s moving forward,” Mosakowski said. “After seeing the impact Mr. Doyle has made and listening to his compelling short- and long-term vision for St. Mary’s, the board strongly believes that we have the ideal leader for our school already in place.”

Doyle is a second-generation St. Mary’s graduate with family ties to the school stretching back decades. His father and his father’s 10 siblings attended, aided by an anonymous benefactor whose identity the family never learned.

“I know that school changed lives for that group of people,” Doyle said. “Any success I had in my life — and I was blessed with a lot in my career — I attribute to what I learned at St. Mary’s.”

After graduating, Doyle earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Salem State University before entering the financial services industry. He worked in sales, marketing, and executive management, spent three years in London establishing an international business, and concluded his corporate career as a global chief marketing officer.

Following his retirement, Doyle did consulting and pro bono work. He had already spent 10 years on the St. Mary’s board, where he chaired its enrollment committee and helped develop the school’s latest strategic plan.

His transition from board member to educator began after he attended a presentation about the school’s Center for Academic Excellence, which assists students who need additional support. Impressed by the program, Doyle volunteered two days a week. The role eventually became full-time, placing him inside the school throughout the last academic year.

“Even as a board member, I knew the school from strategic planning, knew the school from enrollment, and was involved with all the different pieces,” Doyle said. “But to be inside the four walls, you really get a sense of how the school operates and what makes the school so special.”

Doyle said his business experience will complement the work of Assistant Head of School David Angeramo, a longtime educator who oversees the school’s academic operations. Doyle plans to focus on strategic goals, finances, and measurable outcomes while keeping decisions centered on students.

He is considering a dashboard to track the school’s key operating measures and identify where it is succeeding and where changes are needed.

“I’m a continuous-improvement guy,” Doyle said.

Among his priorities are expanding experiential learning opportunities and determining how emerging technology, including artificial intelligence, should fit into the student experience. He also wants to continue the school’s recent academic gains.

Over the past five years, the percentage of students participating in Advanced Placement courses has climbed from 49 percent to 80 percent, according to Doyle. During that period, the percentage earning a score of 3 or higher on an AP exam increased from 57 percent to 88 percent.

Doyle said those figures are particularly encouraging because performance improved even as the pool of participating students grew.

“To me, that speaks to the breadth and depth of the academic experience,” he said. “The education model has really strengthened in my time on the board. We want to continue to lean in on that and build upon this.”

Approximately 98 percent of St. Mary’s graduates continue to college, Doyle said, and 21 percent of the most recent graduating class chose schools outside New England.

Enrollment is expected to remain near last year’s total of approximately 850 students across St. Mary’s prekindergarten-through-grade 12 program. Doyle said the final figure should become clearer later in September.

Annual tuition is $22,200 for the high school, $15,800 for the middle school, and $9,500 for the elementary school.

Doyle said the school’s location in Lynn, Catholic identity, faculty, athletics, and STEM facilities distinguish it from other private schools. Approximately 45 percent of students participate in sports, he said, but St. Mary’s must continue pairing its athletic success with a strong academic experience.

As St. Mary’s marks its 145th anniversary, Doyle said the school can honor its history without allowing that history to limit its future.

“The legacy isn’t frozen in time,” he said. “It’s fluid, dynamic and ever-changing as a school.”

Dolan to Leave St. Mary's for College Presidency

Dr. John F. Dolan, who has served as head of school at St. Mary’s since 2018, is leaving to become president of Elmira College in New York. He will be replaced on an interim basis by Mark Doyle ’76, an alumnus and member of the school’s board of trustees for the last 10 years.

Dolan was introduced as president of Elmira, a liberal arts college founded in 1855, at a press conference Tuesday morning. Doyle will officially take over at St. Mary’s on August 1, though he will be working closely with Dolan during the transition.

“We congratulate John and sincerely thank him for the outstanding work he has done at St. Mary’s,” said board chair William Mosakowski. “Under his leadership, the school has improved in virtually every metric. In Mark, we are fortunate to have a proven leader whose connection to St. Mary’s spans more than 50 years. He is well positioned to keep moving the school forward.”

Dolan oversaw unprecedented growth at St. Mary’s, from a 500-student middle-high school in 2018 to almost 900 students in grades PreK-12 today. Fundraising has increased significantly, with the Annual Fund bringing in $25 million over the last five years.

“I will always treasure my time at St. Mary’s,” said Dolan, who previously worked in administration at several institutions of higher education. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Benedictine College, a master’s from the University of Denver, and a doctorate from Drexel.

“I am especially proud of the work we did to improve the lives of students by creating new academic programs, while staying committed to making a Catholic education affordable and accessible,” he added.

One of the signature initiatives under Dolan was the creation of the Msgr. Paul V. Garrity Scholars program in 2019, named for the former pastor. Garrity Scholars receive full tuition and fees for four years of high school.

“Dr. Dolan played an integral role in leading St. Mary’s to new levels of success,” said Doyle, who was inducted into the St. Mary’s Hall of Fame in 2024. “As a graduate, chair of the board’s Marketing and Enrollment Committee, co-chair of the Ascend strategic plan committee (with Ellen Fritz), and teacher this year, I understand the mantle of responsibility that comes with the head of school position. I believe passionately in Catholic education and attribute any success I have had in life to St. Mary’s.”

Doyle, whose father, Martin, was a 1943 St. Mary’s Boys High School graduate, worked in executive management in financial services for 35 years, with a focus on global marketing communications and brand, product management and strategic initiative execution. After retiring as Chief Marketing Officer, he taught at St. Mary’s this school year.

“I look forward to partnering with our incredible teaching staff, administration and our entire St. Mary’s community to continue providing the best Catholic education for our students and families and to build on our recent success,” said Doyle, who earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from Salem State University.

The school will begin a search for a permanent head of school later this year.

“St. Mary’s is stable and St. Mary’s is strong,” Mosakowski said. “Every year we are proud to send our graduates off to some of the top universities in the country. Now our head of school is moving on to a college presidency. That speaks volumes for him and our school.”