Schools

'All In This Together,' SJB Principal Says

Robert Gawlik, the new principal at St. John Brebeuf School, says he's here to work together with students and teachers, not put on false pretenses or be a voice from on high.

 

St. John Brebeuf School has a new principal, and he's gearing up for the first day of classes next Thursday, Aug. 23. 

Gawlik, who previously served as principal at a Catholic school on Chicago's Southwest side, succeeds longtime pricipal Margaret Whitman, who retired in June. With a friendly smile, Gawlik was deftly handling questions from visitors, office staff, teachers and a reporter when Patch visited the school Tuesday. 

Find out what's happening in Niles-Morton Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

When he finally had a chance to sit down, he shared what the experience has been like so far. 

Q. You started July 1. How's it going?  

Find out what's happening in Niles-Morton Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

So far so good. The families have been super nice, and very supportive ad helpful. Teachers the same thing.

On June 3rd, before I started, I was here for the weekend Masses, and after the 10:45 a.m. Mass, the family Mass, they had a reception for me in the Parish Ministry Center. There were about 100 people there. It was very nice.

Earlier:

Before that, in May, they had a barbecue for me, so all the people who belonged to the parish organizations could meet me.

They’ve been very hospitable and generous.

Q. Have you met some students? 

Saturday was Organization Day, to represent all the different organizations that would be there. The attendance was unbelievable. We just have a small group of families left who need to pick up their things. It went very smoothly.

That’s the thing about this place that’s so wonderful-- the participation is unbelievable.

Q. How many students are enrolled at SJB School this year? 

Student-wise, we have 280 as of today, but we’re not done yet. For example this family that just called, she has two children and they want to return. She’s waiting to see if she can receive tuition assistance.

My previous school (Nativity BVM near 68th and California, Chicago) closed with 70 students-- we never had (as many as) 100 the whole time I was there.

The old school was a reconfiguration, K-8 is gone, but it's remaining as an early childhood center. It’s still using the school name, but has been relocated to the convent by the former Maria High School, which is now a charter school.

They worked with the charter school to get those kids in there as feeders for the charter school.

Q.Where did you go to elementary school?

I went to Santa Maria Addolarata.  There were three churches (three church buildings at various times). My mother and father were married at the second one. I went from preschool through 8th grade there, until we moved to the Northwest side.  I was 12 when we moved, to near St. Ferdinand’s, but my brother and I would take the Grand Avenue bus (to Santa Maria Addolorata).

Q. When you were in grade school, did you ever imagine yourself being a Catholic school principal?

No, I didn’t. For a while I wanted to be a priest. My older brother was in the seminary 7 years but dropped out. Now he works for the Daily Herald in sales. 

Q. Can you think of one memory of grade school?

My inspiration to be a teacher was my fourth grade teacher, Miss (Celia) Maksylan. I had a lot of admiration for her. She made learning fun for us. She’s the one who brought out the fact that I’m more for language arts than mathematics. I taught English for 25 years. My brother loves numbers and he makes a fortune. And I love words, and I’m piling up spiritual benefits for the next world (said with a wink).

I’m still in touch with Miss Maksylan. We send Christmas cards. She’s retired now.   

Q. There are kids who are rolling their eyes and groaning with the thought of school starting next week. What would you say to them? 

‘I’m not any more in the mood to go back to school than you are. But come on in, we’ll work this out together.’

I understand that, it’s like, come on guys, let’s just get into it.

We start on a Thursday, it’s a half day, then it’s Friday, just to get their feet wet. And we take it from there.

My thing with the kids is, I don’t like putting on any false pretenses. We’re all in this together. It’s not like I’m a higher being waiting for you to get in trouble.  Same thing with the teachers. You’re not here to work for me, you’re here to work with me, and we’ll help each other out. Of course I have to make certain decisions, but it’s not like ‘the powers that be.’

Coming to work has to be fun. It has to be productive, but fun at the same time or else you don’t want to be here.

 Get Niles and Morton Grove news in your email. It's like getting a free newspaper. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here