Sometimes you meet an amazing person, and you never forget them. Sister Maria Rosa is one of those people; she is the current principal at Presentation of Mary in Hudson, New Hampshire.
What makes a great school administrator? Isn’t that the $100,000.00 question. I see training for principals all of the time but I don’t think they will ever capture what comes naturally to Sister Maria. It wouldn’t hurt for administrators, to follow her around, to see how she operates.
She can’t be more than 5’4″ but boy does she know how to run a school. One might think, she must really have some skills, and she does. But what Sister Maria has, that many administrators lack, (not all of them) is a genuine love for the children who attend her school. I know, my younger two children attended St. Benedict Academy in Manchester, NH when she was principal there.
Her greatest gift, among so many, is her genuine care and love for the children she is charged with educating. Everything else flows from that.
She makes sure there is discipline when needed, but when it’s administered, it comes from someone who is not just trying to correct a child’s behavior but to also teach them why they need to do better. She’s administering consequences, with love in her heart.
She has a commitment to academic achievement so that the children in her care are literate in the core subjects. She makes sure that they receive a well-rounded education so that, no matter where they go when they leave her school, they are prepared for the next level of learning.
There is joy within the school because there is joy in her heart. Because there is joy in her heart, the children receive the kind of emotional support you would want for your children. In turn, there is genuine love for her by the children in her care, and their parents/guardians.
There are no fads, programs, or schemes to use as an experiment on your child, it’s old school and it works. When you have the right leader in place, everything flows from that. She’s the right leader, and the parents know it.
When parents are looking for a good school for their children, and someone mentions Presentation of Mary, watch the comments. Parents chime in by sharing information with other parents so they know where they can send their children if they want something better.
When we moved to New Hampshire, I was skeptical, as I always am when it comes to finding a good school. I called her from Kentucky where we were living at the time to ask her some questions about how she ran the school. One of my questions was, do you teach the kids sex ed.? She said, no, that’s the parents’ job. She was right. It is our job. I’m sure if a parent or guardian needed her assistance, she would have done everything in her power to help them. But she knew that it was important for parents to educate their children on such a sensitive subject. She wasn’t there to undermine good parents, she was there to support them. Today public schools groom and sexualize children in a harmful way. She never wants to put the children in her care in harm’s way.
It’s been many years since I’ve seen Sister Maria Rosa, but her legacy lives on. I’m sure the parents who have their children in her school are shaking their head in agreement if they are reading this. They know the value of education their children receive at Presentation of Mary because they know they have one of the best leaders you will find steering that ship.
How do you duplicate that in your school? You find someone like Sister Maria Rosa, and you let her do what she does best. Focus on academic excellence, offer a safe school environment for your children, and respects the role of parents in their child’s life. It seems like a simple recipe, but in today’s society, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone like her running a school.
Set your standards high, and fight for leaders like her because they are becoming harder to find.
On behalf of all of the families you’ve served over the years, thank you Sister Marie Rosa. You are a true blessing to all of us.