[06/20/02]After serving five years as assistant principal of Vicksburg Catholic School, Peter J. Pikul has been named the new principal for the 700-student school system.

“It’s an honor to be asked to be principal and carry on the legacy of the school,” said Pikul, a 1967 graduate of St. Aloysius. His contract will begin July 1.

Pikul, 53, a retiree of the Vicksburg Warren School District, is a former principal of South Park and Jett elementary schools, Warren Central Junior High and Warren Central High School.

Vicksburg Catholic School consists of St. Francis Xavier Elementary for grades 1-6; and St. Aloysius High School, for grades 7-12. The campus is on a city block betweeen Clay and Grove streets.

During his first year at Vicksburg Catholic, Pikul was development director.

Pikul said he hopes “to provide a good, quality Catholic education to the people of our community.”

“We feel like he’s going to do a great job,” said Peter Mims, president of the school board, which made the selection.

“He had several years in administration capacity as far as experience,” he said.

Pikul succeeds Alan Powers, who announced in January he was leaving to move to Louisiana. He had been here for three years.

Vicksburg Catholic School is an outgrowth of St. Aloysius, operated by the Brothers of the Sacred Heart until the late 1960s; and St. Francis Xavier, operated by the Religious Sisters of Mercy until the early 1990s.