Matt R. Grosser

St. Mary School
Diocese of Covington
Alexandria, Kentucky
matt.grosser@saintmaryparish.com

In his eight years as principal of St. Mary School (SMS), Matt R. Grosser has focused on improving culture, increasing enrollment, and elevating academic standards. By maximizing instructional time, updating resources, and investing in more effective professional development, Grosser has cultivated a positive and collegial atmosphere, which has rippled out to impact students and families. Grosser established an intervention block to shore up St. Mary’s RTI program, leading to increased reading fluency within the first year and sustained gains on standardized test scores across seven years. The initiative has sparked increased staff collaboration and has led to an ongoing PLC partnership with Xavier University. These gains helped SMS achieve National Blue Ribbon School status in 2016 and has had the overall impact of raising the school’s academic bar, which has in turn helped Grosser meet the enrollment demands; in close collaboration with church leadership and other stakeholders, Grosser has worked diligently to recruit families of not-yet-school-aged children, leading to an increase from 317 to 483 students since 2012. According to the SMS assistant principal, Grosser “brings everything we do back to our foundational roots in our faith.” Grosser is a 2019 recipient of the National Catholic Education Association’s Learn, Lead, Proclaim Award. He holds an M.Ed. Education Administration from Xavier University, as well as a B.A. in Secondary Education and an A.A. in Spanish from Thomas More College.