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getting to know you: five new principals ready for catholic elementary schools

Story and photos by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

Five Catholic diocesan eleementary schools will welcome new principals this fall: Cathedral Grade School and St. Mary-St. Augustine, both in Belleville; St. Mary in Centralia, Holy Trinity in Fairview Heights; and St. Joseph in Olney.

Some of the new principals have a history with the schools they will serve and others will be new to the area and the school.

For the first time in its history, Cathedral Grade School will begin its academic year without a School Sister of Notre Dame as its principal.

At Olney, a former student and graduate will now become the school’s principal.

All of the new principals expressed an excitement about the upcoming school year and see their role an opportunity not only to lead the school but to promote the Catholicity of their schools.

Robert Westling is excited about the upcoming school year at Cathedral Grade School where he has become the new principal.

For the first 160 years, the School Sisters of Notre Dame have led the students through their elementary careers, and Mr. Westling said he takes over, aware of the great tradition he follows in the School Sisters of Notre Dame and the new tradition he begins as the first lay principal of the school.

Mr. Westling comes to Cathedral Grade School from Gateway Academy, a private Catholic school, established by the Legionaries of Christ — an order of priests — in Chesterfield, Mo. He was an assistant principal there.
When he began his search to find a school “match” to his philosophy, morals, values, he found Cathedral.
“I hope to continue the great academic tradition and to enhance it,” he said. “We have ramped up the curriculum, adding requirements that supersede the state requirements.”

Mr. Westling also hopes to “infuse spirit into the school” using a variety of ideas, and “encouraging the teachers and beefing up discipline in the classrooms and on the playground.”

He said he intends to continue the tradition set by the school sisters, following “a legacy of terrific principals,” not only keeping it but emphasizing it more.”

In this, his first year as principal, he wants to “see how things develop and interject my style where it is needed.”
Mr. Westling said he wants the curriculum to be “more challenging” for all of the students in the school, according to their abilities.

He has a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Nebraska in Omaha and a master’s degree in teaching and educational administration from Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., where he also taught and coached.

He is married and has two children. He lives in Ballwin, Mo.
For more information on Mr. Westling and the grade school, please see the “principal’s message” on the school’s web site at www.cgsbelleville.com.

Kimberly Ruef is moving to the Belleville area from a Chicago suburb to become principal of the St. Mary- St. Augustine School in Belleville.

Everything will be new, she said, acknowledging the first year of the combined St. Augustine’s and St. Mary’s student body. The school at St. Mary’s in Belleville closed at the end of May last year and was merged with St. Augustine’s.
At press time, Ms. Ruef was finishing her packing and preparing to move to the Belleville area where she will stay with her sister in Shiloh until she finds a permanent location.

She said she wants to take her time to look for a place to live because she expects to remain here.
“I’m really looking forward to the (school) community and being part of the parish and being able to express my faith,” she said.

Coming from a public school environment where she said she could talk about values and character was not the same as being able to talk openly about faith.

She has been an assistant principal in an elementary school in Oak lawn, Ill., and has a background in special education.

Her bachelor’s degree comes from Illinois State University in Normal, Ill., in education and her master’s in educational leadership from Aurora University in Aurora, Ill.

Ms. Ruef said she knows the two parishes of St. Augustine’s and St. Mary’s have already been working on the new school community being formed at St. Augustine’s.

“I have a good idea of what they want to do and where they want to go,” she said. Anxious to begin, she said she wants to use a team approach to her faculty and staff, with “many people involved in the process” of communication and sharing of ideas.

With a background in special education, she hopes to be able to help students “at risk” in making good decisions in their educational lives and fit well into the school community.

As with any educator, she is “excited and can’t wait to get started.”

Carol Potter is returning to her roots as she takes over as principal of St. Joseph’s School in Olney.
A graduate of St. Joseph’s, Mrs. Potter feels a strong connection to the school, and last year was a member of the school board.

She remembers Sister Barbara Jean Franklin, ASC as her principal. “It feels like I’m coming home.”
Mrs. Potter has a master’s degree in education with an emphasis on special education from the University of Illinois, and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education, also from the University of Illinois in Champaign.

After teaching in a public school system in Champaign and doing consulting work for three years in Olney, she decided it was time to move into administration.

While she had considered it before, she had shied away from an administrative position because she wanted to stay close to children in the classroom. Teaching in a smaller school, she believes she can have the best of both worlds — administration and classroom experience.

Add to that fact she can teach and work with children that she knows, and she couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
“It was so compelling to allow me to work with the children of people I grew up with,” she said, and “work on Catholic faith formation and justice and peace issues. Not only will (everyone) be learning about faith but they will be practicing Christian value driven lifestyles.”

Mrs. Potter said her 2-year-old will become part of the school community next year in the pre-kindergarten class.
One change students and teachers will see when school opens in the fall will be a return to the past. “We’re bringing back a children’s choir,” she said. The choir will offer service to the church and enhance the Catholic identity.
As a school board member and relative of recent graduates, Mrs. Potter said she has attended graduations of preschoolers and eighth-graders.

At those moments, “I feel like we have a shared experience” because of her special connection to the school and its students.

Michael Oslance begins his career as an elementary school principal at Holy Trinity in Fairview Heights.
A St. Louis resident, he has had educational experience in both the Belleville diocese and the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

On the faculty at Gibault Catholic High School in Waterloo as an administrative assistant in recruitment, academics, finances, registrar, trainer and discipline among other duties, he also served as a school counselor at Gibault.
In St. Louis, he worked at a number of Catholic High Schools including Notre Dame Catholic High School in St. Louis where he was dean of girls.

At Holy Trinity, he expects to work closely with leadership councils at both Holy Trinity and St. Stephen’s, the two parishes that contribute students to the school.

The school “has a history with earlier places — St. Albert the Great, Our Lady of the Assumption, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School and St. Stephen’s — and a new facility here. We have the best of the old and the best of the new.
“My vision is to help unite the traditions that have been brought to this point, and I want to build on the past to grow with the future,” Mr. Oslance said.

He wants to emphasize the excellence in education that has been established at Holy Trinity and “raise the bar in terms of achievement and creativity.” Seeing Catholic identity as the cornerstone of the school he wants to “continue to emphasize the importance of the Mass, the sacraments, prayer and the Christian tradition.”

With his previous experiences in other places and other areas of education, Mr. Oslance wants to “empower” the people — students, teachers and families — to do their best and be their best at Holy Trinity Catholic School.

Helen Donsbach is scheduled to take over the helm of St. Mary’s School in Centralia.
This will be a homecoming to the diocese for Ms. Donsbach who is originally from Wendelin. She later lived in Iuka where she will return to live and St. Theresa of Avila Parish in Salem.

Previously, she was principal of a school in Onarga, Ill., about 50 miles north of Champaign, Ill., where she was responsible for a special education school with about 75 students, she said.

With 26 years of experience in education and administration, she is looking forward to coming back to the diocese and her ministry as principal at St. Mary’s.

“There’s a lot going on at St. Mary’s,” she said, “ with high academics and the athletic program.”
(Ms. Donsbach was unavailable for a photo before the paper went to press.)