By Christina Leslie | Correspondent

Brian Albanese, the new principal at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, Maple Shade, can surely count the ways he hopes to transform his charges into 21st century leaders. The former Chicago accountant, now back in his home state, is at the helm of the Burlington County Catholic school and ready to usher in a new classroom model of education.

Albanese earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from William Paterson University, Wayne, in 1984 and began a career as an auditor and financial analyst at securities trust and health care companies in Chicago. After 15 years, he reassessed his goals and chose a career in education.

Albanese served as a paraprofessional, then teacher, at elementary schools in the Chicago suburbs, earned his master’s degree in elementary education from Roosevelt University, Chicago, and received his Illinois elementary education certificate a year later. While in Illinois, Albanese also earned certification as a catechist.

Family responsibilities beckoned Albanese back to New Jersey after a 17-year absence; in 2003, the educator began teaching in the Belleville public school system and earned his New Jersey state certification in elementary education. Albanese spent eight years in the Essex county town as third grade teacher, intervention and referral service chairman, and earned his master’s degree in educational leadership from the College of St. Elizabeth, Morristown, in 2008. Albanese earned certification as a New Jersey principal and supervisor that year as well.

The long-time educator left the public school arena to become vice principal, then acting principal, of Our Lady of Perpetual Help School last July. He explained his switch to a more faith-based educational model in a recent interview with The Monitor. “Catholic education is important, for the student can develop an understanding and further their relationship with God,” Albanese said, “It can guide them to assist in developing a more loving society.”

Albanese and his wife Jean, a paralegal working in New York City, are the parents of son Michael, a junior in college, and daughter Lauren, who is a social worker in Illinois.

Albanese stated his goals for the current school year. “I want to upgrade technology into the classroom and infuse it into the curriculum, incorporating a 21st century learning collaboration and communication model,” he stated. “We need to increase the focus on a child-centered approach to teaching, with more interaction with the student and the teacher.