Vernon graduate earns doctorate in educational leadership

Stephen Marositz, a 2008 graduate of Vernon Township High School, has earned a Doctor of Education degree in educational administration and supervision from Ball State University.

Marositz currently serves as an assistant professor of education at Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, where he prepares future teachers and leads programming in special education.

His research focuses on school improvement, instructional leadership and educator pipeline development. His dissertation examined how schools can better structure the assistant principalship as a pathway for preparing future principals.

In 2025, Marositz received a CEEDAR grant to develop an MTSS-style system supporting special education teacher preparation.

Prior to his current role, Marositz spent more than 15 years studying, teaching and leading in Catholic, public and charter schools in New York City, including serving as assistant principal of St. Barnabas Elementary School and later as associate superintendent for teaching and learning for the Archdiocese of New York.

In that role, he oversaw curriculum, instruction, assessment and professional development for nearly 100 schools serving about 22,000 students.

Marositz holds a bachelor’s degree in childhood and special education from New York University, a master’s degree in sociology and education from Teachers College, Columbia University, an advanced certificate in school building leadership from St. John’s University, an Ed.S. from Ball State University and an Ed.D. from Ball State University. He also holds six state certifications in teaching and school leadership.