Sr. Patricia Pursues Leadership Role in Catholic Education

By Irene Lagan
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 5/22/03)

Assuming an assistant professorship at Marymount University in Arlington this fall will be yet another "coming home" for Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Patricia Helene Earl, assistant superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Arlington.

Indeed, few people are as devoted or suited to the mission of Catholic education. Describing the task of Catholic educators, Pope Paul VI wrote, "This vocation demands special qualities of mind and heart, very careful preparation, and continuing readiness to renew and to adapt….Beautiful indeed and of great importance is the vocation of all those who aid parents in fulfilling their duties and who, as representatives of the human community, undertake the task of education in schools."

"My career has been a series of ‘comings homes,’" Sister Patricia said. "This is just another step. It is an opportunity for me to use my education, and my background as both an educator and administrator to continue to develop curricula for Catholic education." When she assumed her current role as assistant superintendent 13 years ago, Sister Patricia never imagined that she would one day be a doctor helping form students into educational leaders.

"I almost never saw myself as leaving this job," she said. "Thirteen years is a long time, but it almost feels like yesterday. I have loved my 13 years here. It has been a joy and a privilege to work with our wonderful and dedicated principals and lay teachers."

In her current role as assistant superintendent, Sister Patricia wears several hats. In addition to recruiting and interviewing approximately 300 prospective teachers each year, she assists teachers in meeting necessary certification requirements and helps schools meet the standards for accreditation. Regular meetings with principals, teachers and librarians enable her to keep abreast of current issues and needs in the schools and make suggestions for developing curricula.

Having just received her doctoral degree in educational leadership from George Mason University, Sister Patricia is stepping over to Marymount University, where she will serve as assistant professor and director of the Catholic School Leadership Program. Sister Patricia said the program, which prepares people to be principals or administrators in Catholic Schools, will allow her to continue working closely with diocesan teachers and schools. The mission of the program in training educators who are rooted in Christ is identical toher own personal vision and vocation as an educator.

"The Catholic School Leadership Program is designed to train educational leaders who will create a Catholic identity in their schools," she said. "As Catholic educators, we are concerned with developing curricula that develop children physically, academically, spiritually and emotionally. For instance, one aspect of the program focuses on how to develop schools that are rooted in Christ."

A native of Arlington, Sister Patricia was a student at Marymount University when the campus included a grammar school. Later, she served as a lay teacher at St. Thomas More Elementary School before entering religious life with the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. After completing her novitiate in Immaculata, Pa., Sister Patricia returned to Arlington to teach and serve as a principal before assuming her current position.

The decision to pursue her doctorate was a result of a combination of factors. Realizing the profound shift from religious to lay educators in Catholic education, Sister Patricia recognized the need for the spiritual formation of lay teachers and began giving "virtue seminars" to teachers. The seminars that began as an aside to her normal duties became the inspiration for her doctoral dissertation. Sister Patricia enjoys ministering to the spiritual needs of teachers and in encouraging them to find new ways of fostering virtue in their students. When the I.H.M. community invited her to pursue further education, and with the encouragement of a professor, Sister Patricia embarked upon a new phase of her career as a doctoral student four years ago.

Sister Patricia plans to continue hosting virtue seminars, in addition to added duties of publishing and teaching.

"It is important as we continue to develop Catholic education to nurture faith formation of teachers, not only teaching what we believe but nurturing in them the love of Christ," she said. "If we want to know if we as Catholic educators have made a difference, the fact that young people come back to teach for us says that we have."

"I am convinced the love and dedication Sister Patricia brought to the Diocese of Arlington’s Catholic schools will also be the influence that will ensure Marymount’s leadership program to be successful and uniquely Catholic," said Dr. Tim McNiff, superintendent of schools. "Her accomplishment speaks highly for her and the diocese."

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