Mike Connolly worked as a high school, middle school and upper elementary school principal in urban, suburban and rural school districts in the United States before going abroad to work in prestigious international schools in Thailand, Costa Rica, the Netherlands and Vietnam. During his tenure as a principal, Mike offered workshops, seminars and classes at K-12 schools and universities, while also presenting at national and international conferences in London, Thailand, Malaysia and the USA. 

In 2007, Mike retired after forty-two years in education to pursue his passion for writing and is the author of two books—What They Never Told Me in Principals’ School (2009) and Teaching Kids to Love Learning, Not Just Endure It (2011) published by Rowman and Littlefield. His articles have appeared in numerous national and international journals. 

Mike and two of his former classmates are currently working on a book that chronicles how their four years in high school in preparatory seminary positively influenced the direction of their lives, even though none of them were ever ordained as priests.