Balancing old and new

<p>When academic accreditation personnel visited St. Vincent de Paul High School recently, they were struck by the congenial, family atmosphere.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>“This must be the friendliest school in America,” one of them remarked at the end of the visit.</p><p>And as he serves his fifth year as St. Vincent’s principal, John Walker has been cultivating this traditional quality of school.</p><p>“The school feels like a large family,” he said. “Students and teachers hang out together outside the classroom, and unlike the high school I attended, there aren’t cliques here. Everyone mixes — it’s amazingly homogeneous.</p><p>“Many families have a long history here — some former students now have grandchildren enrolled here.”</p><p>In harmony with this intimate family atmosphere, Walker often steps beyond the norm of the principal role by teaching classes and popping in at student retreats, among other things.</p><p>“During the time that I’ve been here, I’ve learned that for school administrators, success is bound up in developing human relationships,” he said.</p><p>Walker is serving in his first principal position. He was born in Portland, Ore., and raised in Eugene, Ore., and after graduating from South Eugene High School in 1980, he obtained a B.A. in philosophy and literature from the University of Redlands in 1984, and then an M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Oregon.</p><p>While working on his graduate degrees, he taught in the comparative literature and English departments at the University of Oregon, and subsequently was hired to teach in the English department at College Preparatory School, a private school in Oakland.</p><p>One day, Richard Cushman, another teacher in the CPS English department, told him that the principal position at St. Vincent was open.</p><p>“When we were living in Oakland, I came to the Petaluma area many times with my family, and so we knew there were a lot of fabulous places here,” he said. “I found the school phenomenally inspiring, and thought that it would be a worthwhile place for me to invest my labors.”</p><p>After accepting the job, Walker, wife Christine and sons Jackson, now 12, and Joseph, now 10, moved to Petaluma. As the school, which opened in 1917, approaches its centennial celebration, he wants to sustain its history and traditions, including its emphasis on students performing 100 hours of community service. </p><p>“Many students do far more than the required number of hours,” he said. “In a sense, this requirement swims against the tide of contemporary culture. Education at St. Vincent is not about self-aggrandizement: There needs to be an emphasis on serving one’s fellow creatures, and this should carry over into the professions that our graduates go into.”</p><p>Walker recognizes the need to balance such time-honored traditions with improvements and innovations. </p><p>“We need to bring new technology into our classrooms, and renovate and add facilities,” he said, adding that the school recently renovated its chemistry laboratory and library, and is in the process of supplying each classroom with a “white board,” or interactive computer screen.</p><p>Walker, who once aspired to become a journalist, never dreamed he would devote his career to education. One other person, in particular — Don Jackson — would surely be more startled than him at the career path Walker has chosen, and even more surprised at the level of success he has achieved.</p><p>“As a high school student, I got in a lot of trouble, and often was sent to his office. He would fall off his chair if he found out what I’m doing now,” Walker said, laughing.</p><p>(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier. com)</p>