What an incredibly proud and historic event in a student's life it is to graduate. How wonderful it was to see so many young, fresh, beautiful faces walk across the stage to proudly receive their Elementary or HS diplomas. Throughout the weekend, so many of them also shared their talents for speech, music, and glowing personalities with us. Now they march forward into their future with all the potential and promise given to them by God and lovingly groomed by their parents, families, friends and loved ones. In addition to those precious souls, along the way there were also administrators, teachers, support staff and volunteers who invested true Christ-like unselfish love into our children and played a major role in those amazing graduates' journeys across the stage.
Judie Rosa, SAA's former Elementary School Principal, was one such outstanding administrator whose visionary, courageous, loving and data-driven leadership blessed SAA from 2016 - 2021, bringing about unprecedented improvement across all areas of the elementary and middle schools, impacting every single student at SAA - including every 8th-grade graduate, and many of the HS graduates too. We don't have to tell parents, students, and alumni this, because they already know. So do all the current elementary/middle teachers and support staff, as well as the 6 now-former teachers and staff (literally 1/2 of the educators) whose departure follows Mrs. Rosa's unjustified and shameful political firing, after her disappearance on 4/1/2021 that SAA's Administration and Board tried to hide for 35 days, which was the reason why this blog was started (see prior posts for the backstory). Yes she will be sorely missed at SAA next year, yes the SAA Administration and Board have weakened the school for many years to come for no good reason, and yes Mrs. Rosa's new school has gained a humble "rock-star" principal at the expense of SAA's students, teachers, and parents. However all that is pretty obvious, and is not the point of this post.
This post is to lament the fact that Mrs. Rosa's name was not even once mentioned in the 8th Grade Graduation Ceremony by any of the SAA administrators. No acknowledgement of her tireless sacrifices for 5 years, no recognition of improved pedagogical systems or test results, not even a simple "thank you" for a job well done. It was as if she never even existed. Yet she did exist and was a champion for SAA. We are sure that every student, teacher, and parent at that graduation ceremony was thinking about Mrs. Rosa and lamenting her absence from the festivities for students she loved and served for years, and whom she knew better and more fully than any other administrator on stage. But no, it was as if she never even existed. This has become the institutional trademark: say nothing, hope no one will notice or speak up, and trust that leadership will never be challenged or ever truly be held accountable.
So to Mrs. Judie Rosa, SAA Elementary Principal-Emeritus, you did exist and you made a huge difference for the better in many hundreds of students' lives. We here honor you, recognize you, and celebrate you for all you did for our children and their teachers. We will always be grateful for your tireless efforts and many successes at SAA. We all know that your enduring legacy will not be April 1, 2021, but the living potential and promise of every child of God, student or teacher, that walked through SAA's doors between 2016 - 2021 and that you loved and poured yourself into. Thank you times infinity. May you always be afforded all the respect and honor that your efforts have earned, and may your educational career continue to flourish and bloom as you invest your talent into the most precious resource for God's Kingdom - His children.
Thank you, Judie Rosa!
-Lillian Hepburn-Richmond (A Cohort of Concerned Parents)
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