A day in the life of St. Patrick School in Rolla
Bishop to students: “Do what’s right ... live and behave in a way that Jesus would appreciate”
Emily Arthur knew she belonged at St. Patrick School in Rolla.
So do her children.
“That feeling came right back to me when I first walked in here, because so many things are still the same,” said Mrs. Arthur, a St. Patrick School alum and mother of three current students.
“Safety, security, belonging — those are the first words that come to mind,” she said. “I see that with my kids now. They get excited to come here, and they feel connected and part of something important.”
Mrs. Arthur and her daughter, third-grader Lucy, took time to reflect on the second day of the new school year.
“I like how faith is the foundation and is incorporated into everything they do here,” Mrs. Arthur stated.
“I want to have a good school year,” said Lucy. “And I like being safe.”
Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell had just finished offering an all-school Mass and was touring the school and nearby Newman Center.
Meanwhile, Nora Stacy and Theodore Cahill were getting used to being in fourth grade.
Both said their favorite thing about St. Patrick School is that they get to be Catholic.
“I get to be with Jesus and also with my friends,” said Nora.
“Being Catholic and having other people be Catholic with you,” said Theodore.
Theodore got to be the cross-bearer at Mass with the bishop.
“I’m really lucky because I like to serve and fill in whenever I can,” he said.
Nora’s favorite subject is math. She said she wants to be a rodeo princess when she grows up.
Theodore’s favorite subject is science. He wants to become a scientist.
This will be their first year moving from classroom to classroom for different subjects.
“Getting good grades is a lot of work,” Theodore noted. “You’ve got to get your work done and get it in on time.”
“A huge blessing”
At Mass, Bishop O’Donnell reminded the students that each school year marks a new level of growth and achievement.
“You learn about reading, writing and arithmetic, science, art, PE and all kinds of important things,” he said. “But the center of all that learning is your faith — learning how to be disciples of Jesus Christ. It’s also about how you treat one another.”
Joining the bishop at the altar was Father Jason Doke, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Rolla, Immaculate Conception Parish in St. James and St. Anthony Parish in Rosati, with Deacon Kenneth Arthur assisting.
Bishop O’Donnell reminded the children to stay focused on following Jesus while helping, caring, encouraging and forgiving each other — “to do what’s right, to live and behave in a way that Jesus would appreciate.”
St. Patrick School has 163 students in preschool through eighth grade.
Catholic and some non-Catholic students come from as far away as the St. James, Fort Leonard Wood, Cuba and Salem-Licking areas.
The student body is remarkably diverse, often including students from several continents.
Amber Polizzi and her husband, Joe have an eighth-grader at St. Patrick School and a University of Missouri freshman who’s a St. Patrick graduate.
The Polizzis enrolled their children in preschool at St. Patrick.
The couple were amazed at the level of community they found, “not just for our kids, but for us, too,” said Mrs. Polizzi.
“As it came time for kindergarten, it was obvious that this was the path we should continue with,” she said.
Both girls still have friends they met in preschool, and Mr. and Mrs. Polizzi are still friends with many of those children’s parents.
Mrs. Polizzi said it’s “absolutely worth” any sacrifices they make to send their children to a Catholic school.
“It’s a huge blessing in all of our lives,” she said.
“Helping me learn”
Dr. Alicia Sanchez Avila MD and her husband, Dr. Joel Leon Becerril MD, moved to Rolla in 2017.
Part of the appeal was the strong Catholic community, ethnic diversity, welcoming attitude and presence of a Catholic school.
“St. Patrick has good academics,” Dr. Sanchez noted. “I like the families, and most of all, I like the Catholic education they give my kids.”
She said her children are learning to put their faith into practice.
“We pray at home all the time,” she said. “Whether they have a soccer match or an exam, they ask for help from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary.”
She’s adamant about wanting her children to have a good relationship with God.
“It’s the most important thing you can do in your life,” she said. “He created us. He offered himself in order to make us children of God.”
Fifth-grader Liam Brooks started at St. Patrick in preschool.
“People are nice to each other here,” he said.
Liam’s favorite subject is PE.
He’s convinced that God is present throughout the day at St. Patrick School.
“He’s helping me learn,” said Liam, “with all the different subjects, easy or hard.”
“Why they’re here”
This is Abby Schwalje’s fourth year teaching art at St. Patrick.
“I like teaching all the different grades in the school and getting to share my faith while I teach,” she said.
She’s aware of God expressing his own creativity through her students.
“He’s the author of their creativity,” she said. “I get to see that in all they produce. And every year, they surpass my expectations.”
She and her husband Kevin send their two children to St. Patrick School.
“We have a second-grader who will receive her First Communion this year, and a seventh-grader who will be confirmed,” she said. “That’s the most important part. That’s why they’re here.”
She said she wants her children to be in heaven someday and receive God’s grace while they’re here on earth.
“The best way to do that is to love God and go to Mass and receive the Sacraments regularly,” she said. “And here at a Catholic school, it’s just part of what you do, and it’s part of what you do with friends.”
Down the hall, middle school religion teacher Rosanne Emmett said she gives homework every night because she wants her students to take their faith out into the world with them.
She spends a lot of her instruction time, especially with the eighth-graders, helping them figure out how to carry their faith with them into high school and beyond.
“We have a lot of discussion time,” she said. “Time to discuss whatever issues are out there and how the Church relates to it and how we build on our faith.”
As important as it is for them to learn about God, it’s more important to know him personally.
“It makes you humble to think that this is something only God can do, but I get to help him,” said Mrs. Emmett.
Familiar faces
Principal Bonnie Brainard is a retired public high school teacher and administrator.
Last year, Fr. Doke convinced her to serve as interim principal at St. Patrick.
Working with grade school children has been change of pace for her.
“I already knew a lot of the parents because I had them as students,” she said.
She noted that in a city with the Missouri University of Science & Technology, a thriving hospital system and the international headquarters for Brewer Science, school expectations are high.
“I think the students and their parents appreciate the structure and the rigor we provide,” she said. “Our kids leave here prepared.”
This year, the school added an option to take Algebra I in seventh grade.
Gail Drallmeier was a beloved science teacher at St. Patrick School. After she died in 2019, the middle school science lab was renovated in her memory and stocked with state-of-the-art equipment.
St. Patrick students participate in middle school sports. Parents organize carpools to take them to Rolla Junior High School for after-school practices and games.
Having students involved in sports at the public school required St. Patrick School to join the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA).
“Which has been a real blessing,” said Mrs. Brainard. “Because last year, we were able to start an academic team and compete with other local schools.”
Morning commute
Krystal Rolley teaches 3-year-old preschool at St. Patrick school.
“I think it’s beautiful what we get to do here,” she said. “I view this as their first entrance into the faith where they understand it. They’re our little saints, and we’re so happy that they’re back.”
Mrs. Rolley’s daughter, Grace, a St. Patrick graduate, now goes to Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City, about 70 miles away.
She told her mother, “I don’t want to hide my faith. Religion is what I need most in my life right now, and I want to have it every day.”
Mrs. Rolley told her, “I completely understand. That’s why I teach at a Catholic school.”
They leave Rolla at 4:45 each morning to drop Grace off and have Mrs. Rolley back to teach at St. Patrick by 7:30 a.m.
Mrs. Rolley’s husband, David, is currently stationed at Fort Stewart, Georgia.
After living all over the country, the couple chose Rolla as a place to settle down and eventually retire.
“We love it here,” said Mrs. Rolley. “You don’t feel like a number. You feel like family. And that’s exactly how we feel here at St. Pat’s.”
Forrest and Maddie Brown have five sons, with the oldest two enrolled at St. Patrick School.
“They really began to blossom academically and socially shortly after they came here at age 4,” said Mr. Brown.
Like the other Catholic grade schools in the diocese, St. Patrick is supported not by tuition but by every member of the parish making a sacrificial gift of time, talent and treasure each year.
That is a Godsend, said Mr. Brown, making it so all their children will be able to attend.
He lauded the school’s administration, faculty, parents and families. He said the school is close-knit, Christ-centered and family-focused.
“Seeing the growth in our children throughout each school year is really astounding and helps reinforce our decision to have them attend St. Patrick School,” he said.
Putting God first
Unlike many other communities in the diocese, Rolla has a largely transient population.
“No one here assumes that you’re from here,” Fr. Doke noted. “A lot of people come here for work and wind up living somewhere else.”
That means many of the seeds planted at St. Patrick School wind up blossoming somewhere else.
The goal is to help children know Christ and become lifelong, faithful Catholics.
“Wherever they go, we want them to be involved and keep growing in their faith,” said Fr. Doke.
“We try to instill in each of them a good work ethic and a foundation of good study skills,” he said. “We’re primarily here for the faith, but you have to blend the two.”
Parents can help with that by openly, actively and enthusiastically living their faith every day.
“Parents need to be good stewards at home,” the priest stated. “Making Mass a priority on the weekends is a big part of that, but also showing your kids how to pray and what it looks like to sacrifice and put God first.”
As the new school year gets under way, Mrs. Emmett asked for prayers “to be able to see the kids through the eyes of God” and for her students “to be filled with awe and wonder at the miracles right in front of them.”
Third-grader Lucy asked for prayers to have a good school year and be safe.
Her mother, Mrs. Arthur, requested prayers for parents to be able to provide good support and guidance for their children in cooperation with the school.
“And that they’ll feel love coming from their parents and their teachers and will have a sense of belonging, and that they’ll want to continue bettering themselves throughout the year,” she said.
