Founding principal of All Saints Catholic School in Naperville set to retire

Steps away from a chatty Catholic grade school cafeteria with a view of an active playground, Sandy Renehan's office is a haven of peace — and not just because the quotes on her wall say so.

“Peace begins with you.”

“Peace is always beautiful.”

“Make me an instrument of your peace.”

“Peace begins with a smile.”

Peace at All Saints Catholic Academy in Naperville begins with Renehan, who has been the school's principal since it was established 11 years ago.

Renehan has fostered peace among the teachers she's hired, the parents who've sent their children to the school, the three parishes that each took on $3.3 million in debt to make a regional Catholic school a reality, and each new crop of students.

She's made All Saints into a family environment with small class sizes and long school hours, a place where the standards are not Common Core, but the curriculum is “others-centered.”

“We wanted to create an environment where children grew not only in excellent educational opportunities, but where they would learn to have empathy, they would be able to see the point of view of others,” Renehan said.

After 40 years in education, at the end of this year Renehan, 68, is retiring from the peaceful school environment she's helped create.

Her retirement is a well-earned honor, her colleagues say, but her departure brings tears to their eyes.

“She is a true servant leader,” said Diane Huber, the school's business manager. “Incredibly dedicated to Catholic education.”

A school at peace

Renehan's vision for Catholic education made her the clear choice to become principal when three Naperville churches — St. Thomas the Apostle, St. Margaret Mary and St. Elizabeth Seton — founded All Saints in 2005.

Education, she says, is “countercultural.” It rejects society's emphasis on fleeting things “that are not of strong value” and emphasizes the importance of American freedoms and economic advantages. Renehan's version of Catholic education also fosters “a world at peace.”

As she and founding parents painted the halls of their new school in vibrant blues, yellows, purples and reds, they planted a peace garden. As she hired teachers to lead classes up to eighth grade, she sought educators who would see each student as an individual.

Coupled with class sizes of no more than 26, the individual emphasis creates a better environment for creative children, said Patty Bajek, whom Renehan hired as director of student services.

Bajek's youngest, an All Saints alum who's finishing her senior year at Benet Academy in Lisle, was one of those artistic types who felt at home from second through eighth grade.

“Who she is and who she was becoming was nurtured while she was here,” Bajek said about her daughter, who's set to become an art major at the University of Missouri in the fall. “Those gifts were recognized in her here.”

Catholic education, Renehan says, gives greater freedom to focus on student-teacher relationships and what really matters — instead of on achieving certain test scores to retain federal funding. A Michaelangelo quote she keeps on a table in her office, “I am still learning,” sums up what she says matters the most: gaining new knowledge.

“I really do have a great curiosity,” she said. “It's fun to have the chance to share that with others.”

Reaching the soul

Renehan has shared her knowledge as a teacher since 1971, when she graduated from the University of Minnesota and began teaching junior high social studies, political science and history. She became a junior high assistant principal in Minnesota, then moved to Naperville with her five children to be near her husband's family.

After he died at age 46 of a heart attack, Renehan became principal at St. Isidore Catholic School in Bloomingdale.

Her path to the Joliet Diocese's new regional school began about 1998, when a committee formed to solve the problem of long waiting lists for too few seats at schools run by Ss. Peter and Paul and St. Raphael in Naperville and St. Joan of Arc in Lisle.

“There really was a hunger for Catholic education,” Bajek said.

As a longtime member of St. Margaret Mary Catholic Church in Naperville, Renehan joined the committee.

“As I started to get excited about the project, the prospect of possibly being the principal was very appealing,” she said.

The committee founded All Saints on six beliefs that emphasize God, morality in education, the importance of parents, a focus on students, the value of diversity and a philosophy that Renehan quotes from memory: “Teaching is an intimate communication between souls.”

As principal, the souls Renehan communicates with most directly are those of 39 teachers.

“It's just always been a wonderful opportunity to be collaborative with teachers, to give them the power and the strength to do their very best work,” she said.

Those teachers, in turn, educate roughly 515 students, including many of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds.

“The messages she gives to her staff and her teachers emphasize peace,” said Revati Natesan, founder of the ThinkGlobal Arts Foundation, which recognized Renehan last fall as its first Peace Advocate. “I have not met another person in Naperville who incorporates peace into everything they do.”

Leaving a legacy

All Saints employees who are coming to peace with Renehan's upcoming retirement are planning several celebrations of her service. An evening reception for adults was Thursday, May 12. An open house for alumni and former teachers is scheduled for Wednesday, June 1, — two days before the school year ends.

The peace quotes might leave the principal's office when Renehan hands the position to Melissa Santos, who is coming to Naperville from her job as principal of Guardian Angels Catholic School in Clawson, Michigan. But supporters say the environment Renehan has created speaks for itself.

And one sign is staying. On it is a cross, formed by the hands of children linking their thumbs and pointer fingers, and a drawing of the classic symbol of education — a shiny, red apple. But its words are more important. Renehan considers them her legacy:

“Your greatest contribution to mankind is to be sure there is a teacher in every classroom who cares that every student every day learns and grows and feels like a real human.”