Alliance for Catholic Education
Matt DeBoer, RLP 12, was the fifth principal St. Teresa Catholic School had seen in six years. Teachers, parents, and students alike were tired of "all the chaos," DeBoer said. One day at the beginning of the school year, DeBoer commenced a staff meeting with a prayer of examen. Even though he had no experience as a principal, he felt the trust of his colleagues as he led them in prayer.
"Looking around at these adults with their eyes closed," DeBoer said, "in these vulnerable positions, wanting to be whole, wanting to be better, I thought, this is what it's about."
DeBoer knew these dedicated teachers deserved a true leader.
At just 29, with no experience as a principal, DeBoer was deeply moved by his team's support. "They were willing to follow me," he said. "They saw that I was willing to take the leap of faith and they jumped on board as well."
"They were willing to follow me. They saw that I was willing to take the leap of faith and they jumped on board as well."
DeBoer's school is a diverse community in the Archdiocese of Seattle, with students of Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Filipino, and Ugandan descent, to name a few. DeBoer estimated that half of St. Teresa's students hail from very low-income families, and that 70 percent receive some type of tuition assistance. The school also has a number of students who were adopted into their families.
Rather than view these dynamics as challenges, though, DeBoer loves St. Teresa precisely for them. "Both the parish and the school are places where people who don't conventionally fit into a box have found a home," he said. "It's been that way since the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace made it that way in the 1940s."
DeBoer was drawn to Seattle by the same faith he shared with his staff during the opening prayer. Eventually, that faith, coupled with his passion for the holistic education of young people, drew him to Notre Dame and the Alliance for Catholic Education's Remick Leadership Program.
"The most important thing [principals] do," DeBoer said, "is form and shape the adults in the building... If we're expecting them to mold the faith and futures of our children, we need to walk with them and model the growth that's needed to continue in this ministry."
"The important message for young teachers with a lot of leadership potential today is to discern whether they are specifically called to embody the faith in their communities."
The Remick Leadership Program provided that model for DeBoer. Especially in the first summer experience, which he described as "intense, intentional, and communal," DeBoer felt empowered to "take on everything that could arise" during the school year. The perseverance demanded by the program "was designed to drive us to our knees in prayer and to drive us into each other's arms in community," he said.
Participating in the program reaffirmed DeBoer's decision to transition from the work of teacher to school leader. "The important message for young teachers with a lot of leadership potential today," he said, "is to discern whether they are specifically called to embody the faith in their communities."
If a promising teacher feels called to lead and is "attuned" to his or her faith, DeBoer said, the next step requires finding a powerful and effective formation program like the one ACE has built at Notre Dame.
"It's a top-notch program and its mission is to prepare top-notch leaders… I can't think of any better preparation I could have received on the professional front, in a spiritual home like Notre Dame," DeBoer said.