After four years of holding the position of president of Archbishop Riordan High School, Dr. Andrew Currier will be leaving the Crusader family at the end of the school year to pursue the role of Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Oakland. 

“I hope to walk in lock step with the principals in Oakland towards a time of renewal, post-pandemic. The best I can possibly do is to inspire them and help them believe that they can lead drastic school improvements that benefit every single student,” Currier told The Crusader.

Currier was first appointed president back in 2017, and officially began on July, 1, 2017. He was appointed President by Archbishop Archbishop Cordileone is grateful to him and Superintendent Pam Lyons for supporting his candidacy.

“It was an enormous blessing to be given the sometimes challenging responsibility of being Riordan’s President. Having attended an all-boys’ Catholic high school in Detroit, I believed that Riordan was an excellent place for students to get a unique and wonderful Catholic education full of opportunities to grow closer to Christ.  I am so impressed with how the faith is practiced and shared among students here at Riordan.  This is why I am involved in Catholic education – to witness Christ alive among the students in the context of a special reverence for Mary,” explained Currier.

As a result of Currier’s departure, Principal Tim Reardon will be appointed the role of interim president until a new president is appointed with a formal search beginning in the Fall and a new president being appointed sometime in next Spring. 

Reardon will also be applying for the position of full-time president once the committee begins the process of appointing a new president. In the meantime, Reardon has been preparing himself to take the role of interim president.

“There’s no better way to learn about all aspects of the school than being the principal. In some ways it’s like learning how to be a mechanic. You’ve always seen how a car runs, but now you see how all the parts work together to make it move. As principal, you really need to mentally take the car apart and put it back together again to fully understand it. I also worked in development at my last job, so I know a little bit about fundraising as well. Finally, I have worked in education for thirty years now. You pick up a few things along the way,” Reardon  told The Crusader.

As for the pressure of taking on the position of interim-president, Reardon just hopes to continue and keep up the momentum that Currier has installed at Riordan. 

He said, “I only feel pressure because I want the school to continue to improve. I want to keep the momentum going. But Dr. Currier has assembled such a great team, that I’m confident we’ll continue to move in the right direction.”

In his time here, Currier has been present through some of Riordan’s most historical and groundbreaking events such as witnessing the beginnings of the House System take shape and the excitement of the Gauntlet and other Crusader Games, the home football game on the Mayer Family Field at the Carl Gellert and Celia Berta Gellert Athletic Complex where the entire community came out to experience the new athletics fields, the day Riordan got approved to reopen campus during the pandemic, which took a lot of teamwork and went really well for us as Riordan was the first high school to be approved for reopening in San Francisco, and of course the night when the Board of Trustees voted in favor of welcoming girls to attend Riordan on Jan. 28, 2020. 

Former Editor In-Chief of The Crusader, Steven Rissotto ’20, was present for that eventful night in January. Risotto shared what had happened on that night with The Crusader.

“We were covering the coed announcement and a few of us stayed in the newsroom throughout the Board of Trustees vote on whether or not they wanted to go through with it. It was roughly 9 pm when he walked out of the library from the meeting and we were hanging out, waiting for him outside of his office.”

He continued, “Even though he looked really tired, he was still kind enough to tell us the result of the vote and to hold the news until the following day. It was an experience the staff will never forget and he was helpful with all of the collaborations we had with him,” reminisced Rissotto. 

Overall, Currier admitted that the biggest moments in his time here were the whole process of transitioning from all boys to a coed school body along with the renovations of the many facilities. 

He recalled, “The biggest moments here at Riordan were definitely dealing with facilities renovations and the opening of enrollment to boys and girls. Additionally, every single success story of a student growing academically and then going on to college with the confidence and ability to pursue a field of their choice – all of those stories are the very best and motivate us to keep working hard to improve Riordan’s offerings.” 

In conclusion, Principal Reardon recollected on the many memories Currier and he have shared in their four years at the R. 

He reminisced, “Our trips to St. Louis for the Marianist convocations. The ceremonial shoveling of the dirt for the new field. The farewell party for Bob Dalton. The parent meeting after the coed announcement. The city hall reception for the boarding program. The list goes on. He’s just going to be across the bay in Oakland, so we’ll definitely keep in touch, but I’ll miss him being in the building every day.”