For Bridget Kramer, principal of Community of Saints Regional Catholic School in West St. Paul, Catholic education is about mission.
“At Community of Saints, our three pillars are faith, inclusivity and love, and all three animate my leadership and everything we do here.”
Community of Saints was formed in 2012 when the parish schools of Saint Matthew, Saint Michael, and Saint John Vianney combined to become a regional Catholic school — with the added support of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Before the merger, Kramer was a teacher at Saint Matthew, and it was there that she fell in love with the mission of Catholic education.
“I taught at a public school in Arizona and loved the diversity, but I felt like something was missing. I wasn’t able to share my faith with my students and it really bothered me. It was something I didn’t anticipate. At the same time, I wanted to go back home, and Saint Matthew’s had an opening. I was pleasantly surprised by the difference I felt being in a Catholic school, the biggest thing being the community. The school felt like a family. When the merger was announced, I interviewed and became the middle school English language arts teacher at Community of Saints, and then, after two years, my principal resigned and it was an opportunity for me to apply, and so I did.”
While Kramer was excited to lead a school she knew and loved, she recounts that the beginning of her leadership was not easy.
“My first year as principal I had to hire a third of my teachers. It was a cross but a blessing. I was really intentional about finding people who I knew would live out our mission and excel in instruction.
Helping students flourish
Hiring for mission is something I never compromise on. You have to make sure it’s a good fit both ways. I am very honest in my interview questions of who we are and what we stand for, and if it isn’t something that they want to be a part of, maybe it isn’t the right fit. And I think it’s worked out; there are always hiccups, but it’s worked out.”
Academic excellence is another element she doesn’t compromise on. “Great learning requires great teaching. So we focus heavily on the growth of our teachers, and I’m very proud of the professional development we’ve taken on here. We’ve partnered with the University of Notre Dame for the Higher Powered Blended Learning Program and the Trustee Fellows STEM Program. And we do it with intention. We don’t do it just to say we’re a school that does STEM or blended learning. I’ll never do it for a marketing reason. We do it because we think it is best practice.”
Part of every school’s mission is to prepare their students when they graduate. “Strong academics contribute toward that readiness,” Kramer explains, “but most importantly, we want our graduates to be good people who flourish in the world in which they’ve been created to live. We can’t bubble wrap our students and avoid complex conversations. It’s important that we allow our students to test themselves and to voice their concerns, questions, and doubts within the structure of the classroom, all the while feeling loved and accepted. If that is being accomplished, then we are succeeding in our mission here at Community of Saints.”