WILMINGTON — Tyler Kulp had embraced his new home in North Carolina enough to stay for 20 years after graduating from college, but the chance to be part of the leadership team of Catholic schools in the Diocese of Wilmington was enough to draw him back to the Northeast.
Kulp, a native of Lancaster County, Pa., moved to the Charlotte area to attend Catawba College, where he played soccer. He met his wife, Jessica, who grew up not far away, and began his career in education. Now they have moved north, where Kulp is the new associate superintendent of schools for the diocese.
“We love Charlotte. We love North Carolina,” he said recently in his office in Wilmington. But “the opportunity up here is just incredible. To work with a great staff is nice, too. Wilmington’s got a lot of everything.”
This is not Kulp’s first experience in Catholic education. While working on his master’s degree at Western Carolina University, he spent time at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Salisbury, N.C. He had taught in the public school system there for several years, but something was different in the Catholic school.
“I knew that I had to get back into Catholic education, so I begged and begged the principal for a job. He gave me the dean of students, math teacher and the athletic director,” he said. A year later, he was the principal.
He eventually moved to Our Lady of the Assumption School in nearby Charlotte. In the Diocese of Wilmington, he will be overseeing 12 schools and is responsible for curriculum instruction, mentoring and guidance counselors. He is also the liaison with Neumann University in Aston, Pa.
The size and experience of the Catholic Schools Office was part of what attracted him to this position. He is excited to be able to work with and learn from the superintendent, Lou De Angelo, and associate Carol Ripken.
“It just made it a very attractive job, said Kulp, 41.
Toward the end of his tenure in public education, “I found something was missing. I thought it was standardized testing and just the way they were doing things. It just wasn’t jibing.”
He found out what it was after beginning work on his master’s.
“When I worked at that Catholic school for about four hours, I walked in and saw Jesus, a big statue of Jesus. Kids were smiling, happy. It was just like God was speaking to me like, ‘You need to be here.’”
Now, that calling has brought him to Delaware.
He and his wife bought a home near Delcastle Recreation Center, which they plan on using regularly. They are members of St. John the Beloved Parish, where their children, 6-year-old Stella and 5-year-old William, are enrolled. Jessica Kulp will be teaching at Tower Hill School.
Kulp said his children have adjusted to the move. Stella, a huge fan of theater, is particularly excited about the proximity to New York.
“She tells everyone her favorite part about being up here is coming up on her seventh birthday … my wife is going to take her to Broadway to see ‘Wicked,’” he said.
His experience in North Carolina also brought him into the Catholic Church. He was a non-Catholic principal before joining the faith in 2017. His wife followed three years later.
Any visitor to Kulp’s office will soon notice the auto-racing memorabilia hanging on the walls and sitting on his desk. He was a season-ticketholder at Charlotte Motor Speedway for 20 years.
He became a NASCAR fan because two of the captains on his college soccer team were big fans of driver Jeff Gordon. When the team hung out, there was always a race on.
“I just figured if I was going to be here and be with them, and I looked up to them, I’ll like NASCAR, too. I said I’ll pick the new guy, the rookie, Jimmy Johnson,” he said.
One of the hats on the wall is signed by Johnson. He has a pair of signed gloves from driver David Ragan, which he received as a wedding gift. Kulp and his wife traveled up and down the East Coast to attend races before they had kids, and they got to know several drivers and NASCAR officials.
He has been to Dover Motor Speedway, but he has not attended a race at Pocono or Watkins Glen. This is his chance to add more tracks to his list.
The family also likes college basketball. He and his wife have attended NCAA tournament games in several cities, including the Final Four once in Houston after winning tickets in a raffle.
