<< Back

Pat Bonacci, AFSC Receives Lasallian Volunteer Award

On April 27th at the 13th Annual Crystal Ball, The Bootleggers Ball, Principal Pat Bonacci, AFSC was honored with the Lasallian Volunteer Award for his years of service to La Salle High School, the last 16 as Principal. Below are the words Dr. Richard Gray, President, shared with those at the Crystal Ball, about Pat Bonacci.

"A 1971 graduate of Saint Mary’s College of California, Pat Bonacci, AFSC leapt right into the world of Catholic education by taking a teaching job at Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary School in Pasadena.  He remained in that capacity until 1977 when the Pastor asked him to serve as the first lay principal of the school. Pat served ably in that capacity until 1985 when Divine Providence led him to La Salle High School.

Serving under three principals, Brother Christopher Bassen, FSC, Brother Robert Mizia, FSC, and Brother Philip Clarke, FSC, Pat occupied virtually every administrative position in the School: Dean of Students, Director of Admissions, Dean of Studies, and Assistant Principal.  Typical of Pat and his love of the students entrusted to his care, he has always taught at least one class throughout the twenty years he has served La Salle.

In 1995 then Brother Philip Clarke asked Pat to serve as principal during a time of unusual transition at La Salle which included the implementation of the President/Principal model and, in 1994, the initiation of a construction project that essentially transformed the campus. Since then Pat has overseen the most dramatic expansion the School has ever known.  Enrollment has almost doubled during the last ten years of Pat’s stewardship, and while he would be quick to say that others had a greater role to play in the School’s current success, we know, in a way that he won’t admit, that it is the force of his wonderful, caring personality that explains why the culture of La Salle is so successful. Throughout the changes at La Salle Pat continued to exemplify the Lasallian values of faith and zeal. 

And Pat has never weakened his commitment to making La Salle a better place for the students entrusted to his care. As principal of La Salle, Pat implemented the School’s Service Learning Program, expanded the immersion program, and established Founder’s Week of Service, in which he, personally, has participated alongside teachers and students. The hugely popular Block system essentially reorganized the way instruction in the classroom was managed and, even as he prepares to transition to his new role as Vice President for Mission, Pat has supervised a two year implementation of a curriculum mapping process. His commitment to children is exemplified by the fact that, in addition to teaching, Pat also serves as an Academic Advisor.

With only one extraordinarily dedicated Christian Brother on staff, the School has come to rely on Pat to hold up for us the Lasallian values of the Christian Brothers. Anyone who has engaged in a conversation with Pat about the schools sponsored by the Brothers will have noted his frequent reference to “our” school in Sacramento and to “our” school in Berkeley – as if he were a Brother – when in reality he so thoroughly identifies with the Mission of the Christian Brothers to give a human and Christian education to the young, especially the poor, that it would never not occur to him to identify with the Lasallian schools up and down the West Coast.  Pat truly demonstrates how a lay person can work “together and by association” with his vowed colleagues in the Christian Brothers.

His service to the Church and the Community does not stop at the School’s doors.  Pat has been actively involved in the larger church through the Archdiocesan Principals Association including tenure as a member (and Chair) of the Archdiocesan Principals Advisory Board and leadership of the Catholic Athletic Association. Furthermore, he has been active at his parish, Saint Luke as a Lector and long time volunteer at the annual parish fiesta. His civic engagement is best exemplified by his attendance at countless Eagle Scout Honor Courts and a willingness to sit through long (often boring) City Council hearings on behalf of La Salle.

Allow me to share one comment from a colleague that could be just as easily applied to Pat’s relationship with students and parents:  If Mr. Bonacci’s first name weren’t Patrick, it could just as easily be Patience.  Throughout the years I’ve worked with him, he’s been a remarkable example of that virtue.  His door is always open and an invitation to enter means an invitation to be listened to sincerely and with understanding."



Left to right: President, Dr. Richard Gray, Brother James Joost, FSC, Principal Pat Bonacci, AFSC, Gery Short