With changes made, St. Vincent principal Pat Daly looks to big third year

St. Vincent de Paul High School Principal Pat Daly says the third year is when things come together. This is his third year as principal at the 101-year-old Roman Catholic high school.

There have been many changes since Daly took charge of the highly regarded academic school in 2017, including a turnover in many administration and teaching positions. Some longtime faculty members have retired, while others have left to pursue different opportunities.

“When a school changes direction, some people don’t agree with that direction and move on,” says Daly.

Daly has gone through similar reformations at Archbishop Riordan High School in San Francisco and St. Bernard’s High School in Eureka.

“The third year was when things came together at those schools,” he explains.

He is confident that, after two years, St. Vincent has the staff in place to move the school forward.

“We have a pretty impressive lineup,” he says. “We took our time interviewing, and have some excellent people in place. We finally have a staff in place that fully understands the vision of where the school is headed.

“We were able to identify our strong areas and the areas that need to be addressed, and we’ve done a good job addressing those issues. We are on the right trajectory to make St. Vincent a healthy Roman Catholic high school.”

One of the main areas of concern has been enrollment that has been slowly but steadily declining during the past several years. According to Daly, enrollment has “stabilized” during the past two years. It is now around 280.

While there have been many changes at the school over the past two years, one thing that has remained consistent is St. Vincent’s emphasis on academic excellence.

“Maintaining and enhancing our academics is very important here,” says Daly, pointing proudly to the number of St. Vincent graduates who move on to the nation’s top colleges and universities and the 95% of graduates who continue to college.

The changes are not confined to the school staff. Facilities are also being renovated and upgraded. Last year, the school weight room was completely renovated with new equipment for use by all school students.

There is talk of adding a dormitory for out-of-area students, a strategy that has worked well in increasing enrollment for Daly at both Riordan and St. Bernard’s.

“Right now it’s in the discussion stage,” he explains. “Our next phase for improvement will be to focus on the main campus.”

While St. Vincent continues to maintain its academic tradition, Daly is also a believer in the benefits of athletics, and he has moved to revitalize the St. Vincent sports program with new coaches for football, basketball, baseball and volleyball.

Under new athletic director and dean of students Kerry Oshita, St. Vincent will join the North Bay League next year, becoming the smallest school in a league that includes most Sonoma County schools.

The changes do not mean that the current administration has forgotten St. Vincent de Paul’s roots, its traditions and its place in the community.

The school celebrated its 100th anniversary last year and acknowledged its history with a number of special events.

“To succeed you have to adapt and change,” Daly says, “but that doesn’t mean you forget who you are. The mission of the school and traditions should never, ever be forgotten or taken for granted.”

Carrie Borkhuis has been hired as director of admissions and marketing charged with, among other responsibilities, reaching out to alumni to make sure they continue to be part of the St. Vincent de Paul school family.

Four recently retired long-time staff members - Gary Galloway, Sue Keller, Michael O’Toole and Anne Trot - will be honored during ceremonies at homecoming on Sept. 14. Among the foursome they have more than 100 years service to the school.

Daly says the plan for St. Vincent’s future should be based on what he called “the four Cs - clear, concise, consistent and with continuity.”