Camille Naughton, president of Cristo Rey Atlanta Jesuit High School and a member of its founding staff, will retire in June.
David O’Shea, a former teacher and administrator at the school, has been named her successor, effective July 1.
Naughton has served as president since 2020, overseeing significant growth in the school’s academic programs, corporate partnerships and financial resources.
During her tenure, Cristo Rey Atlanta has grown its endowment to more than $30 million, completed two capital campaigns and increased faculty salaries to levels competitive with other private schools in the area, a statement said. The school has also maintained a 100% college acceptance rate among its 1,065 graduates, according to the announcement.
Naughton oversaw the expansion of academic and student support services, including additional guidance counseling, specialized math instruction and a career counseling position to help connect college alumni with employment opportunities at the school’s corporate partners.
She described Cristo Rey Atlanta as the most successful of the 41 schools in the nationwide Cristo Rey network.
“100% of our kids get into college,” she told SaportaReport.
Graduates have been accepted to Ivy League universities and such institutions as Georgia Tech, the University of Georgia and the University of Michigan.
About 95 percent of Cristo Rey Atlanta students become first-generation college students, and their families have an average annual household income of $45,000, Naughton said.
The school’s Corporate Work Study Program allows students to gain professional experience through internships with corporate partners throughout their four years of high school. Revenue from those partnerships helps offset the school’s operating costs and keeps tuition affordable for families, Naughton explained.
O’Shea, who has worked in education for more than 20 years, previously served at Cristo Rey Atlanta as a teacher, Corporate Work Study Relationship manager and director of Corporate Work Study.
He currently serves as director of advancement at Pinecrest Academy in Cumming, where he oversees fundraising and admissions revenue.
In his previous leadership role at Cristo Rey, O’Shea managed relationships with 134 corporate partners that generated 60% of the school’s annual revenue through its Corporate Work Study Program, the statement said.
He also developed the curriculum for the school’s Business Training Institute and Business Literacy courses, according to the school’s announcement.
“David’s experience, including having previously served at Cristo Rey Atlanta, makes him the perfect candidate to lead our school in our next phase as we continue to give life-changing opportunities to our students and their families,” said PJ Bain, chairman of Cristo Rey Atlanta’s Board of Trustees.
O’Shea said he welcomes the opportunity to return.
“I am excited to return to Cristo Rey Atlanta as president and to continue advancing a mission in which I wholeheartedly believe. Once you have been involved with Cristo Rey Atlanta, its mission stays with you,” he said.
For Naughton, leaving the school will mean saying goodbye to a community that has been deeply meaningful to her, she said.
Working at the school “feeds the soul,” she said, describing the experience as “life-giving.”
“I will miss the kids the most. They are smart and industrious and they are not entitled,” Naughton said.
She added, “And I will miss the friendships of the adults that I work with.”
As she prepares to retire, Naughton said she will likely spend six months catching her breath before deciding what comes next.
She also serves as an adviser to master’s degree programs at the University of Notre Dame and Boston College.
