Gildea

A longtime area school administrator is returning to Blair County, but he will be adopting purple and gold as his new school colors.

Robert Gildea was announced as the new chief education officer at Bishop Guilfoyle Academy on Tuesday, taking over for Joan Donnelly, who occupied the position for 45 years and will be retiring at the end of the 2024-25 school year.

“Possibly the most compelling part of Dr. Gildea’s background that makes him a great fit for this role is his long-standing and unwavering commitment to the mission of education,” Bishop Guilfoyle Academy President Joseph Adams said in a press release. “It is a calling for him.”

Gildea stepped away from the Hollidaysburg Area School District in August 2023 after 10 years as superintendent to

take the same job at Lower Dauphin School District near Harrisburg.

Prior to his time as superintendent, he served as the principal of the Hollidaysburg Area Cyber Academy and Foot of Ten Elementary School, after starting his career as a teacher in the district, amounting to more than three decades of service to Hollidaysburg.

Gildea’s contract with Lower Dauphin was for five years, and he said he fully intended on staying in the district until his retirement.

“I love Lower Dauphin,” Gildea said in an interview with the Mirror. “It’s just an incredible school district.”

But then a good friend approached him about the opening at Bishop Guilfoyle, which gave him pause.

Adams said Bishop Guilfoyle’s search began in August 2024 when Donnelly made the administration aware that she intended to retire at the end of the school year.

“She did that knowing it would potentially take us a little time to replace her,” Adams said.

The search process was extremely “targeted,” Adams said, adding that Gildea was “right at the top” of the candidate list. He said Gildea has always had a fantastic relationship in local education circles and in the local community as a whole.

“Many people at BG have known Bob throughout their lives,” Adams said.

Gildea said the final deciding factor in his move back to Blair County was his desire to be closer to his family again. His oldest brother passed away last week, so he realized the importance of spending time with loved ones more than ever. One of 10 children, Gildea said seven of his siblings still live in the area, along with numerous extended family members.

Gildea felt confident he was leaving Lower Dauphin in a promising position, as he said the district is in a “unified” place in terms of vision. He regrets that he won’t be a part of the district’s future, but he’s sure “great things are going to happen there.”

As chief education officer, Gildea will manage “all aspects of the student experience,” Adams said. He will work with teachers and principals to create a developmental curriculum that helps students grow both academically and as people.

Gildea said he has a lot to learn, as he will be in a private school setting for the first time in his career. But he feels there are still plenty of similarities with the public system with which he will be comfortable. According to the press release, Donnelly will work with Gildea during the transitional period starting this summer to help him get familiar with the responsibilities of the position.

According to Adams, in contrast to public school contracts, there is no fixed period of time for Gildea’s stay at Bishop Guilfoyle, although he said they hope it’s a “long-term commitment.”

Gildea felt like he is coming full circle with his arrival at Bishop Guilfoyle, as he and his siblings all attended the former Hollidaysburg Catholic School as students.

“I’m, in effect, going back to my roots,” he said. “I feel great pride that I get to give back to the institution that did so much for me and my family.”

Not one to rest on his laurels, Gildea said he is always looking for ways to make a difference with his life and will never be content to just sit back and be satisfied with things he’s accomplished in the past.

“The further I go in my life, the more I look back, the more I realize there are no coincidences,” Gildea said. “I feel like I’ve been guided my whole career to be where God wanted me to be.

“I had a real strong sense that this was where I was needed.”

Mirror Staff Writer Nate Powles is at 814-946-7466.