Archdiocese of Philadelphia appoints first woman superintendent

Mary Rochford, a veteran Catholic elementary school educator and a former nun who is an advocate of using technology and sharpening students' critical-thinking skills for 21st-century careers, has been named superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Rochford, 55, is the first woman to hold the post in the history of the five-county archdiocese, according to officials who are scheduled to announce today that Cardinal Justin Rigali has appointed her.

As superintendent, Rochford will oversee 20 archdiocesan high schools, 182 Catholic elementary schools, and five special-education schools, enrolling a total of nearly 80,000 students. She succeeds Tom O'Brien, who left in June 2007 to become assistant dean of the College of Graduate Studies at Immaculata College. Rochford's salary was not disclosed.

"As soon as I heard the news, I wrote her," said Sister Maggie Gannon, 43, principal of Drexel Neumann Academy in Chester, who considers Rochford a mentor and a role model. "I think this is one of the best decisions the archdiocese has ever made. They couldn't do better than Mary Rochford in my book. And just about every principal would agree."

Rochford, a tall woman with short, brown hair who shuns the spotlight, yesterday reflected on her new position, her role as the first woman superintendent, and her plans.

"It feels exciting to me; I don't know about historic," Rochford said. "I do know I have the energy, the enthusiasm, and I love children."

She added, "I consider my new role as superintendent of schools to be a tremendous chance for professional growth and spiritual fulfillment."

Her 85-year-old mother is thrilled. "She said 'Congratulations' with the biggest smile on her face," Rochford said.

"I have had the privilege of working very closely with Mary for many years," said Richard McCarron, the archdiocese's secretary for Catholic education, who recommended promoting Rochford from the post of assistant superintendent for elementary educational services. "She is very respected in the elementary community - and the special education community. . . . She is really going to help us establish these schools as schools of excellence."

Rochford said that in order to maintain Catholic schools' traditional excellence, they must adapt by adopting new teaching methods so that students are equipped to apply the knowledge they have learned.

Though no one knows everything the evolving 21st century workplace will demand, Rochford added, "you know it's not going to be enough to have memorized a whole lot of facts, minus the applications."

She intends to continue the work she has been doing for the last six years in the Office of Catholic Education by stressing an instructional approach that gives students opportunities to demonstrate what they are learning by working on projects and analyzing information.

Rochford said that while the Catholic schools were making headway, more needs to be done, including training veteran teachers for new approaches.

Research shows that the workplace is changing four times faster than schools, she said. "If we're not aware of that and doing what we need to do . . . our students won't be as effective" as they could be.

She has delivered that message at a dizzying number of curriculum training programs she led over the past few years to Catholic elementary and high school teachers across the archdiocese.

"She has excellent skills in staff development," McCarron said.

Rochford, a Philadelphia native, grew up in Immaculate Conception Parish in Germantown in a family with four brothers and two sisters, graduated from Cardinal Dougherty High School in Oak Lane, and earned her undergraduate degree at Chestnut Hill College.

For 13 years she was an elementary school teacher at Catholic schools in Philadelphia and Camden before spending 12 years as vice principal and principal at schools in Philadelphia and Chapel Hill, N.C.

A longtime member of the Sisters of St. Joseph, Rochford left that religious community in 1993 to help one of her sisters care for a disabled daughter.

"My niece is severely brain damaged," Rochford said. I could not be the kind of support to her I wanted to be. That's why I left."

Rochford still helps care for her niece every Saturday, and she remains deeply religious.

"My roots are there," she said. "They serve you well."

Her homework for the summer, Rochford said, is deepening her knowledge of the archdiocese's high schools by visiting them and meeting with the presidents and principals.

"They all have their strategic plans," she said. "Now it's for me to get to know what their focus has been and what they would like to see accomplished in their schools."

Since word of Rochford's appointment spread last week, she has been flooded with congratulatory notes and e-mails.

"Every day, there are more pats on the back and flowers," she said. "You have to know me. I'm not a real flower person, but I've been getting a lot of flowers. . . .

"I like the rhythm of life to continue. So for a while, it's distraction to me, the flowers and all. I'll be kind of happy when it all subsides, and we can be about the task before us."