Access Welcomes Fr. Sheridan to Board
Access is excited to welcome Jesuit Father Paul Sheridan to the Board of Directors
In 1977, Fr. Sheridan decided that he’d seen the promise of too many young lives extinguished by negative factors and decided to found an organization that would help children reach their potential through a holistic, whole-person, “arms-around” approach. He called the organization Boys Hope, and placed children in the top-rated schools best suited to their needs. He set high expectations—and gave his scholars everything they needed to meet them. As word of the program grew, interest in the program also grew, and Boys Hope expanded into Boys Hope|Girls Hope, encompassing 17 homes around the country and in Latin America. After almost two decades of service, he retired in 1996.
From 1996-2005, Fr. Sheridan served as the president of St. Louis University High School. During his tenure at SLUH, Fr. Sheridan taught theology and coached the C-baseball team, in addition to his responsibilities as president. Perhaps his greatest achievement as president was to conceptualize VISION 2000, a community-wide endeavor that provided the strategy to secure the future of SLUH, beginning in 1997. This comprehensive campaign, which surpassed its $32-million goal, has made enhancements in the following areas: academics, technology and student life services; scholarship and debt retirement programs; community and campus development; and competitive, on-campus athletic facilities.
While at SLUH, he also helped to found Loyola Academy, a Jesuit middle school for boys in St. Louis that follows the Jesuits’ Nativity School model.
From 2005-2015, Fr. Sheridan served as the president at Bellarmine College Preparatory, an all-boys Jesuit high school in San Jose, CA. During his tenure, he successfully launched and completed a $90M campaign.
Fr. Sheridan holds a Master of Divinity degree from Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a master’s degree in History from Saint Louis University and a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Letters from Fordham University. He was ordained a Jesuit priest in 1975.