Young hearts and minds can be impressionable, but rare is the instance when a five-year-old decides the path their life will take then chooses to stick with it. For Margaret Dubose, superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama, the desire to become a teacher was sparked with a simple invitation by her little brother’s preschool teacher. When she accepted and occasionally helped the teacher with the younger students, she experienced the joy that only comes from serving others.

As Dubose progressed through her elementary and secondary school years, attending Catholic schools in the Diocese of Shreveport, her heart’s longing for service grew. “I kept having these incredible teachers that I wanted to be like,” she remembers, “so I stuck with it.”

After graduating from college, she landed her first teaching job at a Catholic school in Jackson, Mississippi, but when she moved outside of Jackson, she was presented with a bit of a problem: there were no open teaching positions at the local Catholic schools. Knowing her calling was to serve, she made her way to the public school system. Several years into teaching elementary students, she noticed a need: better development of reading skills. She became very interested in ways to aid students in this area and decided her gifts would be better suited to overseeing curriculum and instruction with an emphasis in reading. To do that, however, she would need a master’s in curriculum and instruction and another in educational leadership, which is the general path for those seeking to fill a principal or superintendent position. While she knew she needed the certification, she never gave much thought to ever filling either of those roles.

Dubose ultimately attained her goal and was hired to oversee curriculum and instruction for the Diocese of Jackson. “I achieved what I thought was my career goal,” she notes, but it was short-lived. Her husband’s job brought the Dubose family to Birmingham: a city which, at the time, was devoid of any available Catholic school teaching positions. Dubose, instead, worked as an instructional coach with Jefferson County. Even at such a young age, her name was known in education circles around the Southeast, and when word of her move to Birmingham made its way to the diocesan Schools Office, which was in the midst of transition, a phone call was made.

The offer to serve the diocese as superintendent of Catholic schools was presented to Dubose on more than one occasion. Her reluctance to ever serve as a principal or superintendent kept her from applying. “No matter what I've done, it was never about me having any type of ambition, looking towards a next step,” Dubose explains. “It was where I thought my gifts could be served.” Her age, self-perceived lack of experience, and her 13-month-old daughter were also forefront in her mind. One day, though, as she was praying for guidance, the Holy Spirit spoke to her as she thought, “God equips the unequipped.”

She sent in her resume and agreed to an interview, putting the decision in God’s hands. The morning after her interview, she was offered the job.

“Even when I said yes to it,” she attests, “I didn't know what was next.” Of course, the Holy Spirit was at work, and her gifts were just what the Schools Office needed. She has brought structure, built community, and spread the word about the blessings of Catholic education.

“Nationally, for years one of the stories of Catholic schools has been the closures,” Dubose points out. “When I came in as superintendent, our schools in the diocese had had several years of enrollment decline.” Yet, over the past several years, schools have seen a steady increase in enrollment. Notably, this school year marked a significant milestone not only for Dubose but also for the diocese. For the first time in 25 years, the diocese celebrated the opening of a new school when St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic School in Montevallo opened its doors to kindergarten, first, and second graders Aug. 6, 2025, the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord.

The momentum, says Dubose, is a testament to families wanting a Catholic education for their children. “Opening a school shows that desire, that need, and it shows how things have shifted here in our area.”

As Dubose sat in the pew for St. Thomas’ first school Mass, she contemplated the significant moment: one she says is the most significant of her tenure thus far. The Mass and the young students participating served as “a powerful symbol of hope — hope for our Catholic schools and hope for our Catholic faith.”

From her own formative years to her years teaching and serving as superintendent to her role as a mother, she admits that Catholic education is “a hard one to really kind of explain and to quantify.” But there is a difference. “Centering an education around the faith, around the Eucharist, around Jesus — that is the Catholic school difference, and that's the thing that you can't fully explain or capture on a flyer or in an article. To have every person in the building anchored in and centered on Christ is where the power comes in. We're all rowing in the same direction.”

Catholic education is one of the greatest missions of the Church, for it benefits the students, the families, the teachers, and the staff, anchoring the community in the hope of Christ. “There’s nothing in the world,” exclaims Dubose, “that could ever be stronger than that!”