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Elizabeth Campbell
Principal, Holy Rosary School, Staten Island
When I was 11, I saw a picture in the paper of a young girl with Down syndrome. She was one year older than I was, and she had been kidnapped and found deceased. At that moment, I said I wanted to help children like that.
As an adult, I got a master’s degree in special education and worked as a special ed teacher. At 27, as I was coming to the end of a job at New York Foundling, I said a novena to the Sacred Heart, asking God to lead me to where I was needed. On the eighth day, I received a call from St. Paul’s on Staten Island. After St. Paul’s closed down, I said another novena, and got a position at St. Dorothy’s. After Hurricane Sandy, I said the novena again, and got hired at St. Adalbert’s. This is my first year as principal at Holy Rosary.
We are fortunate to be one of the schools where the archdiocese has funded an enhanced special education program, with integrated co-teaching and a resource room for special needs students. I would like us to be the first Catholic school in New York to really embrace a multisensory approach to learning, using instructional strategies beyond sight and hearing to help students process information.
To survive, Catholic schools have to go beyond the ideas of 60 years ago. It’s going to take a lot of dedication and leadership. We need to become a resource for our families. We have to be a part of the community.
Looking at the crisis in the Church today, I really hope for another great awakening. Too many people are falling away from their faith because of disappointment and anger. We need to come together as Catholics, not walk away from the faith we need. -
“I would definitely love to see women in more leadership roles.... I’ll take the fact that girls can now be altar servers as an indication that things can change.” – Elizabeth Campbell