New Principal Starts at St. Raymond

The tech-minded new principal at a Menlo Park Catholic school began the school year by wiring the entire campus.

Tara Rolle is kicking off more interwoven use of technology in the classroom, but her agenda for the growing K-8 St. Raymond School on Arbor Road -- it welcomed 30 new families this year -- is broader and more comprehensive than that.

Rolle has also helped shape a new junior kindergarten program that stresses relationships with peers and adults and boosts readiness skills in English language arts, number sense and problem solving, and physical and motor development.

“St. Raymond School is known for its academics and complemented by this vibrant parent community,” said Rolle, an alumna of the Menlo Park City School District and a Ph.D. in administration and policy. “They are supported by an incredible group of parents and that was very appealing to me.”

Rolle is creating more interactive lessons for the SmartBoards already in use in classrooms. She is examining programs for the the upper grades that supply one laptop per student.

She takes over from Sister Ann Bernard, who is retiring after 16 years at the helm. The two women worked through the summer on transitions and new programming.

If parochial schools like St. Raymond's are trending toward integration of technology, Rolle's selection also points to a different trend in parochial schools.

Because so few women are entering the convent today, the school, once exclusively staffed by sisters, must cast a wider net to find administrators.

“We would hire a nun if there was a nun available,” said Monsignor Harry Schlitt of St. Raymond Church. “It’s rare to have a religious woman in charge of a school now since there are so few of them now.”

According to a report from the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), about 180,000 women lived as nuns in the U.S. in 1965. Today, there are fewer than 60,000 -- a drop of 66 percent.

Though a practicing Catholic, Rolle is not a nun.

However, “All of the administrators are Catholic,” said Assistant Principal Sister Ann McGowan. “They not only are the educational leaders, they are the spiritual leaders of the school.”

True, said Rolle, who earned a bachelor's degree in education at UCLA and a doctorate in educational leadership and administration and policy at Pepperdine University.

The former assistant principal and director of admissions at Moreau Catholic High School in Hayward said a Catholic education schools the whole student — heart and mind."

"In a world where our children are being inundated with messages that may or may not align with our values, creating a community where we call ourselves back to compassion, kindness and service is imperative," she said.

St. Raymond School can be reached at 650-322-2312. Its website is www.straymond.org.