Bishop Brady's new principal is a long way from the military bunker in the Pacific islands where he started his career.

Shortly after graduating from college, Trevor Bonat headed overseas with Jesuit Volunteers International. He was sent to a tiny island in the Chuuk group of Micronesia, and at 22, he became dean of students at a Catholic high school. During his two years working out of a bunker used by the Japanese in World War II, Bonat supervised several students who went on to political careers in their island nations.

He also met a volunteer, Stephanie, who became his wife. The two have worked at Catholic high schools ever since. Bonat, now 35, said his devotion to Catholic schools stems in part from their ability to nurture both the academic and spiritual lives of students.

"Catholicism for the past 2,000 years has been a very intellectually charged religion," he said. "And the movements of the heart are something the church has also worked with. . . . Catholic schools are able to work with both sides."

Bonat took over last week at Bishop Brady High School, inspired, he said, by the great joy and enthusiasm he encountered during his interviews and meetings with faculty members and administrators.

He said he hopes to share that spirit with the surrounding community, whether by building on Brady's service programs or strengthening academic connections, such as its program that lets students take courses at NHTI. Looking beyond the campus is part of Brady's mission as a Catholic school, he said.

"We have to look outside the boundaries of the school and say, 'How can individual students apply their talents to the pressing needs of the world?' " he said.

Bonat said he has not yet made other goals for the school, instead setting out a listening agenda. He said he wants to talk with every teacher, administrator, parent, alumnus and student he can find.

"Something happens in a place when you have a group of people working to a common goal," he said. "The best goals are those chosen from the community."

Bishop Brady, like other independent schools, will continue to examine its financial standing and tuition rates, Bonat said.

"We want tuition to be affordable while maintaining our programs," he said. Tuition for the coming school year is $8,250.

This is Bonat's first job as principal. He has chaired the theology departments at Georgetown Preparatory School in Maryland and, most recently, Canterbury School in Connecticut. He also directed Christian service programs at Georgetown Prep.

While there, he earned a master's degree in theology from The Catholic University of America and a master's in education from Johns Hopkins University. He earned his bachelor's degree in classics from the College of the Holy Cross.

Bonat, his wife and their daughters, Lucy, 4, and Jane, 2, recently moved to Concord. He enjoys fly-fishing and has had photographs published in a Jesuit magazine, part of a hobby he developed years ago as a wedding photographer. While his academic training focused on issues of social justice, he said he has lately grown interested in the intersection of church and state.

Mary Moran, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Manchester, said she was as impressed by Bonat's attitude as his years of service.

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