Tim Kasprzak, alumnus and new principal of St. Matthias, shares a lighter moment with middle schoolers at the Milwaukee school as assistant principal. (Submitted photo)
God’s grace sometimes brings people full circle. It has brought Tim Kasprzak back home to the school that was his kindergarten, elementary and middle school — St. Matthias Parish School on Milwaukee’s southwest side.
Thirty years after the first day he walked into the school’s doors as a student, Kasprzak — whose life and career has been defined by Catholic education — is now its principal.
“I just see this solid foundation that I was given and how much of a blessing it is, and it’s truly magnificent how it’s given me so many opportunities,” says Kasprzak, who is beginning his 31st year learning or teaching at a Catholic school.
“I think about the other students that it’s given opportunities to and how much of a blessing Catholic schools are here in the archdiocese, and I’m really proud to now be back answering my vocational call to help further propel Catholic education.”
Kasprzak also is a parishioner at St. Matthias, and will be married there in June 2026. His journey at the parish school on West Beloit Road began in the fall of 1995.
“He was always a good student, sweet, kind and willing to try new things,” said Rachele Wehr, who taught Kasprzak in fourth grade. In another full-circle twist, he is now her boss.
“I don’t know if I ever thought of him as a principal, but definitely having a teacher’s instinct.”
Kasprzak’s first sense of a vocation in education came a couple years after Wehr’s class.
“I remember feeling that call when I was in middle school,” said Kasprzak. “I had a great interest in social studies, so I decided that I wanted to become a social studies teacher.”
His education at Pius XI High School in Milwaukee, a school that drew much of Kasprzak’s family within its doors, gave him more faith-filled role models as he discerned his career.
“Pius was filled with so many, so many wonderful teachers,” he said. Faculty members pushed him but also made what he learned accessible and understandable.
“There was a very welcoming presence, which I really tried to channel when I stepped into my role as a middle school teacher. You’re meeting the students where they’re at with their faith and academic journey, and that was one big takeaway.”
Kasprzak took those lessons to St. Norbert College, De Pere, in fall of 2008. He hoped to teach in high schools, but a spring break service trip to Rochester, New York, changed that.
“I got placed in a third-grade classroom, which terrified me. ‘These children are going to rip me apart. I don’t want to do this,’ I thought. I spent the week in that classroom. The teacher and I got along great,” he said.
“I fell in love with elementary education, and I came back to St. Norbert that next week and changed my major from history to elementary education.”
He started his career teaching at Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Catholic School in Sun Prairie for seven years.
“I was not planning to teach in a Catholic school right out of college. I was definitely formed to be a public-school teacher,” he recalled. “But I got the job at Sacred Hearts and halfway through my first year of teaching, I realized I couldn’t see myself not being in a Catholic school.”
After earning a master’s in education at the University of Notre Dame, he taught middle school religion at St. Monica, Whitefish Bay.
In 2023, the call came for him to return to his scholastic home of St. Matthias as an assistant principal.
“They brought it up and said, ‘We have an opening,’” Kasprzak said. “What a neat place to start my career in school leadership.”
Two years later, Kasprzak interviewed for the principal’s role and received the job.
While in his second month in the top role, he has already made his imprint on students and teachers.
“He is a God-centered, gentle and compassionate leader who always lets you know that his door is open and he’s willing to talk things through,” Wehr said.
“He’s just fun. I mean, he’s always willing to get involved. We did a bubblegum experiment, and he allowed me to do it in the science lab and test which bubblegum could blow the biggest bubble. He was just right in there blowing big bubbles and having them pop all over his face.”
Kasprzak said he’ll be taking lessons from all his teachers over the years and will attempt to embody them in his new role that brings his life and career full circle.
“I just think about all the people, all the school leaders, all the teachers that I encountered as a student, and I just think about how lucky and blessed I am that they all answered this vocational call to Catholic education,” Kasprzak said.
“I’m proud to be back here doing what I’m doing.”
