Incoming principal for Phillipsburg school attributes new position to faith in God

Patricia A. Bell, the new principal at Sts. Philip and James School, Phillipsburg, said God wanted the longtime teacher to return to college and study to become a principal.

“I was called to do more as I developed positive relationships with all in my care,” she said.

So, after graduating in 1986 with a bachelor’s degree in education, she returned to the classroom to earn a master’s degree in educational leadership from Centenary College, now University, in Hackettstown – 25 years later.

Talk about perseverance and persistence: Bell possesses those qualities, but she also prides herself on being disciplined, motivated and goal-oriented, while also keeping open the lines of communication.

“If I set a goal, we’re going to do it, and I’m going to rely on my team,” Bell said during an interview in her office Aug. 28, shortly after her first staff meeting.

Bell is understandably enthusiastic while acknowledging she is learning as much as she can about the Warren County school. She replaced Donna Kuscinski, who retired after years as a teacher and later Sts. Philip and James principal.

Though this is her first educational role in the Diocese, Bell, who is a member of St. Joseph Parish, Washington, has built an extensive resume in parochial and public schools in the region.

“I loved teaching, but I wanted to do more,” she said about becoming a principal, her office decorated with religious and family mementos, as well as framed art and other memorabilia from her beloved New York Yankees. “I wanted to help more, and I felt that I had the gifts to do that.”

Bell said being a principal is hard, but she compared it to an adrenaline rush of a track sprinter, a sport in which she competed at Jefferson Township High School in Oak Ridge, Morris County. Growing up the second of four children of Judy and the late Jack Doyle, her parents and others in her family worked as educators, instilling in her the passion to teach, she said.

Like a sprinter who fails to medal, Bell has also known hardship. When her public-school administrative position was eliminated in 2021, Bell was left wondering about her future.

“Difficult was an understatement,” Bell said of the job loss. But she never lost faith that God would help her find something else. She worked in interim- and substitute-principal capacities at another public school district before seeing the principal opening for Sts. Philip and James in her church bulletin.

“And I kept seeing it,” she said. “It was kind of like [God] was speaking to me.” She said getting hired to lead the Phillipsburg school was “probably one of the best decisions in my life.”

Sts. Philip and James School sits on more than 20 acres off a busy highway in Phillipsburg, with 130 students in pre-K through eighth grade. Its campus once served as Phillipsburg Catholic and later All Saints Regional High Schools before closing nearly 30 years ago, but the elementary program has continued in the tradition of academic excellence, spiritual growth, Christian service and personal development. The parish has had a school since 1875, not many years after its founding.

Every year, Bell said, she hands out “signature” pens to people with a theme. This year, being in a Roman Catholic setting, Bell’s gift pen includes the green from the school’s dominant color and a quote from the second letter of St. Peter: “Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord.”

That’s a goal of Bell’s: Build on the school’s foundation while injecting new ideas in a collaborative leadership style, so that all might grow in grace and knowledge of God, enabling the school to flourish.