Mr. Todd Shafer Reflects on His First Year as Principal at Our Parish School

“It’s a great day to be a saint!”

Walk through the halls, classrooms, and offices of our parish school and you are likely to hear this delightful exclamation. The phrase is part of a call-and-response instituted by our new St. Mary on the Hill Catholic School Principal, Mr. Todd Shafer. And thanks to Mr. Shafer’s genuine passion for K-8 education and the dedication of our talented faculty and staff, the sentiment certainly rings true. In a year when many institutions — including schools — have struggled to navigate a global pandemic, it certainly is great to be a St. Mary’s Saint!

When Mr. Shafer stepped into the role of Principal at St. Mary on the Hill Catholic School in July, Catholic schools around the Diocese of Savannah were hard at work figuring out how to reopen with COVID-19 guidelines and safety in mind. Luckily, Mr. Shafer had a wealth of diverse professional experience to draw on.

Mr. Shafer is an Augusta native. Following his graduation from Davidson High School, he studied architecture for a year at SCAD. He then returned to Augusta and studied as a chemistry major before joining the Air Force. After four years of military service, he became an Atlanta police officer for MARTA. Eventually, Mr. Shafer decided to move back to Augusta to be closer to his family. It was during his two years on the police force here that he met his wife, Tammy, a fellow officer.

Not long before the couple married, Tammy decided to go back to school for a teaching degree. Her decision to pursue a career in education inspired Mr. Shafer to consider doing the same.

“A couple of months after we got married, I told her I was going back to school full-time,” Mr. Shafer says. “I was tired of putting kids in jail. Seeing that I was at the end of the choices they had, I wanted to be where I could help mold and shape and transform their lives earlier on so they could make better decisions.”

Mr. Shafer spent his first 12 years of teaching in the Columbia County school system. In 2014, he partnered with a colleague to found a charter school for the arts — the school would later open under the name SAIL.

Mr. Todd Shafer began serving as our new Principal of St. Mary on the Hill Catholic School in July.

The state approval process for the charter school had come to a halt when Mr. Shafer heard that a teaching position was open at St. Mary on the Hill.

From his very first day on our campus in January 2016, Mr. Shafer knew he was right where God wanted him to be.

“When you walk in the doors of the school, it’s home,” he says. “I got that feeling as soon as I walked in the doors. There were parent volunteers throughout the building, kids busy doing things, and teachers seemed to be happy. It has just been easy to fall in love with, and I love what I do. I love teaching the kids, I love being able to talk to them and relate to them. It just blossomed from there. When the position of Principal opened last summer, I had people saying, ‘Todd, you need to apply.’ God has a plan, and here I am.”

The “house system” at SMCS has created a friendly competition when it comes to acts of kindness and service! Here, representatives from each house help organize food received through a canned food drive for Catholic Social Services.

While there is nothing easy about stepping into a school leadership role in the face of a global pandemic, Mr. Shafer was able to take things in stride and come up with a solid reopening plan for the school within weeks of becoming Principal.

“Our superintendent was committed to getting kids back in school around the diocese,” he says. “It was a challenge, but I think it turned out really well. I think communication with the families has been key. We got a lot of great advice from our school nurse Rhonda Wallace. She did a lot of research and talked to doctors in our school community. Mrs. Wallace has been invaluable; she has been the glue that has allowed us to continue on with some normalcy here.”

Thanks to the combined efforts of Mr. Shafer, Assistant Principal Ashley Fisher, Mrs. Wallace, and all of the school faculty and staff, St. Mary on the Hill Catholic School has been able to continue in-person learning without interruption for the entire academic year. And while this impressive feat was certainly a result of the hard work and dedication of many, it was also a sign of our community’s unwavering faith in challenging times.

“It’s knowing that there is a higher entity that surrounds us all and permeates us all,” Mr. Shafer says. “Even in the midst of negativity, we know that there is something better. Jesus permeates through everyone. If we live by faith and love one another, serving others, negativity can’t take us down.”

Moving forward, Mr. Shafer remains dedicated to his three primary goals for the school: enriching its Catholic identity, strengthening academic programming, and rebuilding the parish-school relationship.

The “house system” established this year — based on the virtues of faith, love, service, and community — has given students a tangible experience of their shared Catholic faith in action. The academic curriculum across all grades continues to be updated and expanded, and Mr. Shafer looks forward to implementing more project-based learning in the year to come. As the largest ministry of our parish, the school remains deeply connected to life at St. Mary on the Hill Catholic Church. Mr. Shafer is thankful for the support of Fr. Ross and the stewardship way of life that makes our school and parish such wonderful places to learn and worship together.

While Mr. Shafer’s first year as Principal of St. Mary on the Hill Catholic School may be coming to a close, there is no doubt that his enthusiasm and passion for the job are still going strong.

“I haven’t lost my love for it,” he says. “I come to work with a smile, and I leave with a smile. I love coming here and being here. I love the kids, the staff and teachers, and the parents. I just love it.”

Students return to St. Mary on the Hill Catholic School after attending Mass in the church.