Students, Families, and Staff,
Happy Summer Vacation! You have completed another school year, and now it's time to celebrate! As you go into the summer holidays, I wanted to introduce myself as the new principal of Patrick Henry Downtown Academy. I have just completed my ninth year with St. Louis Public Schools, and I am so excited to start my tenth year as your principal. I have already had the honor of meeting many staff members and some students, and I look forward to meeting everyone over the summer. I am eager to hear from each of you! We have an incredible community at Patrick Henry, and our families and staff members are ready to challenge our students in the coming school year to grow. Take your summer to rest and recharge for the 2019-2020 school year so that we can all come back in August energized.
A little about me...I am a career educator. You could say that I was inspired from the beginning by some incredible teachers: my own mother and grandmother were educators who taught me the magic of reading and falling into a different universe anytime I opened a book; Mrs. Donatini in Kindergarten made me fall in love with school; Ms. Hesselbart in third grade gave me the foundation I needed in all subject areas; Mrs. Oleshanski in seventh grade gave me a confidence I had never felt in a math class before; Mrs. Vehlewald in high school engaged me so much in history class that I ended up majoring in it! Following their excellent examples, I began my career as an educator at the university level, where I learned quickly that my passion was teaching. I moved to the middle school level to teach English Language Arts at Gateway Middle School, where I learned that teaching is not simply a natural gift, but something that requires work everyday. The constant growth that is required of an educator was inspiring to me. I loved the pace, the constant problem-solving, and the relationships with students, families, and colleagues. After taking a leadership position on the eighth grade floor, I knew I wanted to pursue educational leadership as the next step in my career path. I completed my doctorate at Saint Louis University, and moved to Washington Montessori Elementary as an administrator. There, I learned just how special the world of elementary education really is.
In the short time since being named principal of Patrick Henry Downtown Academy, I have already been challenged and inspired by the staff and students. I cannot wait to keep growing with the Patrick Henry community, and I am thankful for the opportunity to lead you next year.
Please reach out to me this summer if you would like to meet me in person: deborah.rogers@slps.org.
Enjoy your summer vacation!!
Deborah Rogers
