Historical October 1991 article. Dates, prices, services and contacts describe the source period; current availability has not been established.
St. Roch’s Catholic School proudly announced that Gloria Openlander, a school parent and resident of the Southwest Garden neighborhood, has become the school’s new principal. Mrs. Openlander earned her BA in Elementary Education from Harris-Stowe State College and received her MA in Arts Education from Washington University. Currently she is working on a Specialist Degree in Education Administration at St. Louis University.
She has taught from the elementary level through junior high for almost 15 years. Openlander sees her role at St. Roch’s not only as a manager of people but, more importantly, as an “instructional leader.” “I welcome the challenge of restructuring the curriculum to focus on how children learn,” she says. “Children learn in so many different ways, and I believe it is the teacher’s responsibility to understand how each child learns and, then, to adjust to the child’s learning ability. Once this occurs, the teacher and the child will both be successful.” In this connection she intends to be a support and resource person for both teachers and parents, Openlander says. St. Roch’s reputation is in providing a Christian education with a strong academic foundation.
It is also a school with children of different cultural and religious backgrounds. Mrs. Openlander wants St. Roch’s children and teachers to be aware of those differences and to learn how to interact with each other. “Once we understand our differences,” she says, “a broader learning experience takes place.” St. Roch’s will participate next year in a program called “A World of Difference.” The program, whose sponsors include the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Danforth Foundation, Civic Progress and KMOVTV, emphasizes the unique cultural differences of the children in the community. “I see this as a journey,” says Openlander. “We all need to go with the experiences and learn from them.” Mrs. Openlander is married to John Openlander and is the mother of two children, Lucy and Nicholas.
Original photograph caption
Gloria Openlander, new principal at St. Roch School. Photo by King Schoenfeld.
Originally published in The Times of Skinker-DeBaliviere, October 1991.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1991_10.pdf, printed page(s) 1; PDF page(s) 1.
