A SPECIAL HOMECOMING
SCA WELCOMES ITS NEW PRINCIPAL

For someone like Sr. Ann M.Welch, RSM who was born in the Bronx and always wanted to teach, St. Catharine Academy held a kind of inevitability. As a Sister of Mercy who spent all of her religious and professional life in the Midwest, Sr. Ann didn’t know when or how SCA would enter her life, but the trajectory was there. That’s because she hoped that one day she would become principal of a Mercy high school. So when the position at St. Catharine’s became available last school year, it was not surprising that Sr. Ann would actively pursue the job—or that the Search Committee would recommend her appointment.

“As a Sister of Mercy, I knew about St. Catharine Academy and the great tradition of the school,” said Sr. Ann from her new office on Williamsbridge Road. “So for me this great honor is really the fulfillment of a dream.”

Bound up in her dream is Sr. Ann’s commitment to Mercy and the ideals of service, especially to women and children. She entered religious life at 18, moving from her home in Connecticut where she grew up to the Regional Community of Iowa. She gained her bachelor of science degree in biology and chemistry from Mount Mercy College in Cedar Rapids. Eventually she acquired two masters degrees: an M.S. in biology from Northern Iowa University and an M.A. in Educational Administration, Supervision and Evaluation from Loyola University in Chicago. She taught in several Catholic high schools in Illinois and served as principal or assistant principal in four others.


A new set of demands
Pelham Parkway in the Bronx is a fair distance from the Farm Belt of Iowa and the Windy City—some would say worlds apart. “For an educator, New York is completely different,” says Sr. Ann. “The city is much more complex than, say, Cedar Rapids. Here, our racial, religious, and cultural diversity creates a different set of needs that we must be sensitive to. At the same time, diversity is a tremendous strength—and so is our Mercy tradition of service. I am thrilled to have this leadership opportunity in such a dynamic environment.”

When Sr. Ann returned “home” from the Midwest this summer to head SCA, she brought a unique personal portfolio that in many ways reflects New York. Her ethnic and religious heritage includes Irish, Italian and Jewish roots, including occasional visits to synagogue while growing up Catholic. She became a young adult during the civil rights years, focusing intently on issues of social justice and equality. When she chose religious life and a career in secondary education, Sr. Ann devoted herself completely to preparing students to take their place in a just society.

“Our Mercy model of education asks us to do more than teach,” says Sr. Ann. “We try to help our kids understand that they’re not here just for themselves, but for others as well. A Mercy education is more than just book knowledge. It should help inform the basic decisions we all face.”

For Sr. Ann, the everyday decisions of life have big implications for the next generation of leaders: What issues are going to influence the way you vote? What neighborhood will you live in? How will you choose your friends? What type of family life are you going to have? How will you decide to educate your children? How will you nourish yourself so that you can fulfill your responsibilities at home, at work, and in your community? “Our goal,” she says, “is to help young women make choices from a position of strength and purpose.”


SCA’s unique strength
Sr. Ann also assumes her new role at SCA with strong feelings about single sex schools. “It’s very, very important for young women to learn leadership skills by developing and expressing their unique gifts. I believe the experience of a single-sex school like St. Catharine’s eliminates the tensions and pressures of co-ed or male-dominated environments. It’s a chance for students to freely develop their own philosophy of life and begin to apply it.”

Supporting this goal is, of course, the SCA curriculum which is a model for a values-based education in the Catholic tradition. Sr. Ann has openly committed herself to the Mercy Education Action Plan, a curriculum developed by the tri-state region’s five Mercy high schools. In addition to academic excellence, the plan emphasizes the role of women in all areas of learning and accomplishment, and the importance of service.

“Our goal is to share with young women that they are not just preparing for a career or a happy life,” says Sr. Ann, “but to serve in some way, to help build a just community.”

Understanding the process of learning and why new approaches are necessary are also priorities for SCA’s new principal. “Given our culturally diverse student body, memorization, for example, may not be the best way to learn,” says Sr. Ann. “We also have to recognize that in today’s technology-based world that what you know may be secondary to your ability to apply knowledge in various situations. The ability to work collaboratively in problem-solving teams is major change in the workplace,” says Sr. Ann. “These are all new realities for educators and students.”

Fortunately for St. Catharine’s, the foundation has been laid thanks to the vision of faculty and past administrations as well as the support of parents, alumnae, benefactors, and, of course, students. “So many positive forces have to come together for a school like St. Catharine’s to succeed,” says Sr. Ann. “No one of us can do it alone. We all need each other.”


Team-based management
Aware of SCA’s 110-year history, Sr. Ann anticipates many possibilities for learning and service from the school’s new team-based administrative structure with Our Lady of Victory Academy (OLV), a Mercy high school in Dobbs Ferry, NY. Sr. Rhea Bean, RSM, who served as SCA’s Acting Principal last year, will head the new structure.

Sr. Ann identified some of the benefits that both schools will enjoy in their new relationship such as buying and operating efficiencies, and online learning. “I have personal experience with online learning when I taught chemistry,” says Sr. Ann. “It provided access to incredible learning tools and information. So I see us taking full advantage of the Internet.”

As she assumes her new role, Sr. Ann says she is standing on big shoulders. She acknowledged the leadership of Sr. Rhea Bean and her predecessor, Francine Scioli and the other great leaders and faculty of St. Catharine Academy. “I have come to a school that is extremely organized, very stable, and excited about its future,” says its new principal. “We have an exceptional faculty that is totally committed to our mission, and very supportive parents, friends, and alums. It’s a huge privilege for me to be here.”


Article published in the Fall 2000 issue of Pathways, a publication for alumnae, parents and friends of Saint Catharine Academy.

For a copy of Pathways, please contact Sr. Rhea Bean, RSM.