A new principal and The PATS Club are making a place where students feel they belong
When Rebecca Rosa stepped into her new role as principal at St. Patrick Catholic School in July of 2024, she met a community of parents and students clamoring for a deeper connection to their school.
Enrollment was on a steady decline, popular community events like the Harvest Festival and Shamrock Shootout had seemingly lost their significance or been discarded entirely and parents felt a lack of administrative transparency.
Rosa was selected in June after a lengthy search and recruitment process that began in February. She previously served as dean of students at Compass Community School in Memphis, a public charter school that had replaced Memphis Catholic Middle and High School, her alma mater. Before Compass and Memphis Catholic, she taught theology and social studies at Bishop Byrne High School, also in Memphis.
Rosa says she was impressed by the school’s academic tradition, service learning program and emphasis on restorative practices during the interview process. It was also made clear, in no uncertain terms, that Father Charles Githinji and the rest of the search committee were looking for someone to take a different approach.
“They were pretty clear about the different pieces that they felt were gaps that needed to be filled,” Rosa says. “I think that my background as somebody who does value culture work really lent itself to that, because I do think that when COVID hit, the school very much closed down, and it needed to close down for safety purposes. I think it had a problem opening back up. So I think that people felt that, and that was something that they were looking for. It is definitely the case that our families want to be involved.”
Since taking the reins, Rosa has brought in new ideas and events to hopefully change the atmosphere around the school. Music has greeted students as they are dropped off in the morning, fathers are invited to taco breakfasts with their children and events like the annual welcome party at the KC Pool have seen a boost in attendance.
One event, Grandparent’s Day, brought hundreds of not only grandparents but also parents, aunts and uncles to a standing room-only mass at St. Patrick’s.
“I think Mrs. Rosa has the same kind of experience where she had the church and the school, and I think also from the Father Charles side, he’s definitely made an effort to kind of unify the community as one, versus having that separate,” PATS Club President Jason Sangworn says.
Her emphasis on culture building goes back to her days at Memphis Catholic, where in addition to her role overseeing discipline as dean of students, she also served as dean of culture. It’s the role she says she’s most comfortable in.
“when you’re talking about developing a school culture, it’s really important to look at it from a lens of ‘this is more than an academic building’ …”
“I’m also a doctoral student … I’m studying the impact of school belonging,” she says. “When a student doesn’t feel like they belong, they are less likely to be academically successful, they’re more likely to have high absences, high tardies, things like that, and they’re more likely to make poor decisions. So when you’re talking about developing a school culture, it’s really important to look at it from a lens of ‘This is more than an academic building in which you come in, you do your schoolwork and you leave.’ It has to be more. If it’s not, then the kiddos are not going to give it everything they’ve got. It has to be a community.”
Academically, Rosa aims to raise math scores and find new programs to strengthen the school’s overall profile. To achieve this, she says she has sent teachers to study the operations of other schools like Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas, one of the top destinations for graduating St. Patrick’s students.
Existing academic programs at St. Patrick’s include the SmartLab, an integrated computer and technology learning space for STEM instruction, and the Take Flight Dyslexia Intervention Program, which provides specialized support for those with learning disabilities. Gifted pupils can participate in the Wonder Program.
“They get pulled out once a week for that area,” Rosa says. “We also support them by differentiating things like math problems. We utilize Excel, and it allows us to say, ‘OK, you’re a wiz at multiplication. So now we’re going to give you some more advanced concepts to work on.’”
Catholic Social Teaching through service learning is an important part of academics at St. Patrick’s. Grades learn about an assigned social issue in the context of CST. Students then support an organization tied to that grade’s assigned issue, such as St. Vincent De Paul.
The school maintains a strong Catholic identity in student life. Mass is held twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, and any of the 392 students are able to request the sacrament of reconciliation as needed.
“I want our kids to know that the expression of our faith, in some context, is actually a privilege,” she says. “There are kiddos inside and outside of Dallas who don’t get to go to school and talk about God, who don’t get to go to school and say, ‘Hey, I’d like to go to Confession today.’ Like, if our kids want to go to confession, they go to confession. There are kids that don’t get to pray together, and our school is quite diverse, so not everybody in the school is Catholic. But even within that diversity, they share an understanding and a love for one God.”
The religious emphasis at St. Patrick’s extends to athletics, where students receive preseason blessings from Father Charles, pray before games and participate in Dallas Parochial League sports. Students can play for school teams from fifth through eighth grade, with sports offered including football, basketball, baseball, track, cross-country and volleyball.
Athletics are a piece of the cultural puzzle Rosa is trying to put together. Luckily, she says the students tend to take the initiative in that arena.
“The girls went home one night. They made posters and cards, and when the boys came in the next morning, their lockers were decorated with posters and cards, and it blew the boys away,” she says. “And so what do our boys do in return? In return, our boys go and they attend the girls volleyball game, and they pump the girls up, you know? And so that’s just that. That’s what I want our culture to be and to continue to be.”
“kids are running up giving her a hug, and I’ve seen her office where they’ve made stuff for her.” –Jason Sangworn, PATS Club President
Signs of change are physically visible at the school, which is in the midst of a capital fundraising campaign. Both the upper playground and gym are being renovated as part of one of the most substantial face-lifts the school has seen in years.
The PATS Club, the school’s version of a PTA, has been given more opportunities to become involved recently, Sangworn says. Spirit gear is now available for students and families, communication is more frequent and reinvigorated PATS Club events like the Christmas Fest have been well-received by the community.
The change ushered in by Rosa isn’t just felt by the parents, he says.
“I think (it’s) the transparency piece, again, not only is she accessible to us, she’s accessible to the kids,” Sangworn says. “And the kids are running up giving her a hug, and I’ve seen her office where they’ve made stuff for her. I think it’s real admiration for what she’s doing.”
