SEATTLE – Nicholas Ford, principal of St. Patrick School in Tacoma, has been named the Archdiocese of Seattle’s new Superintendent for Catholic Schools, effective June 20, 2022.
Ford will replace Superintendent Kristin Dixon, who announced February 22 that she is retiring at the end of the current school year. Dixon has worked for the Archdiocese of Seattle for over 40 years and has been superintendent for more than five years.
“We ask the Lord to bless Kristin as she prepares for her well-deserved retirement and to bless Nicholas as he steps into this new role serving our Catholic schools,” Archbishop Paul D. Etienne and Caitlin Moulding, the archdiocese’s chief operations officer, said in an April 14 letter to parish and school leaders.
Ford has worked for the archdiocese since 2012, when he began teaching at Our Lady of Fatima School in Seattle. He became principal there in 2016; in the summer of 2021 he became principal at St. Patrick School.
Ford, who grew up in Canada, attended Boston College for both his undergraduate and master’s studies and received a Post-Master Certificate in Educational Administration from Seattle University.
He served as a Jesuit Volunteer, which led him to Tanzania, where he was dean of studies for Gonzaga Primary School in Dar es Salaam. He has coached CYO volleyball and currently lives in Tacoma with his wife Rachel and their three children.
Dixon “has graciously offered to onboard Nicholas and act as his mentor during his first months in the role,” the letter said. “We are so grateful for her dedication and commitment to this ministry.”