PORTLAND — Bishop Robert P. Deeley has named Jim King the new superintendent of Maine Catholic Schools, effective July 1.

King is interim director of elementary schools for the National Catholic Educational Association in Arlington, Va. He will succeed the Rev. Louis J. Phillips Ph.D., who has served as interim superintendent since July 1, 2014. 

“The Diocese of Portland is blessed to have found an experienced educator recognized for his integrity and innovation,” Deeley said in a prepared statement released Wednesday.

“Jim has a strong commitment to keeping Catholic schools centered on faith,” Deeley said. “He is enthusiastic and dedicated and works well with students, families, faculty and staff. Jim has a fresh and exciting vision for how best to strengthen and build our Catholic schools as superb centers of learning, service and faith.”

King called the Maine job an amazing opportunity, saying that Catholic schools in Maine have a rich, 150-year tradition of success. “I’m thrilled to work with the great people we have in our schools and maximize the incredible potential for growth that exists in Catholic education,” King said.

Since 2013, King has served as associate executive director and interim director of the elementary schools department for NCEA, assisting in the organization and marketing of national conferences while providing Catholic elementary schools across the country with guidance in the areas of communications and technology.

Before that, he was a middle school teacher at four schools in Florida, then principal of St. Martin of Tours School in Maple Heights, Ohio. In 2009, he was named principal of St. Matthew Parish School in Akron, Ohio, where he remained until leaving to complete doctoral internships at NCEA and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

A 1990 graduate of the University of Akron, King completed a master’s degree in educational leadership in Catholic schools at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J., in 2004. He is working toward earning a Ph.D. in Catholic educational leadership from the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

A native of Akron, King, his wife, Roberta, and their three children look forward to calling Maine home. King said his children look forward to playing in snow.