Interview with Principal Sue Petrone

AN INTERVIEW WITH

PRINCIPAL SUE PETRONE

by Minali Venkatesh ’15 Ms. Sue Petrone was appointed the new principal of Ursuline Academy in May, and joined us on July 1, 2021. She succeeds Mary-Kate Tracy ’94, Principal and Director of Mission for the past four years, who will now focus exclusively on her role as Director of Mission and will also lead the school’s efforts in diversity, equity, and belonging as well as global initiatives.

Petrone recently moved back to the United States from the United Kingdom, where she had been working in private school administration. From 2019–2021, Sue served as the Upper School Head at The American School in England (TASIS), an international boarding and day school. Prior to that, she served as Upper School Director at Gill St. Bernard’s School in Gladstone, NJ, a pre-K–12 day school. Sue began her career as a science teacher, and is teaching Forensics to juniors and seniors.

We sat down with Sue to get to know the person behind the principal:

What drew you to the principal’s job at Ursuline?

When I looked at Ursuline, I thought it had a great academic program for girls. I spoke with Kate Levesque and some of the trustees, and I was really impressed by their commitment to the girls and their passion for the school. Most of all, I loved seeing how invested the entire community was in education. I had a chance to meet with a lot of parents over Zoom, and I was both surprised and pleased at how many showed up because it takes time. Time is money, time is energy, time is important, and they took the time to be there. When I was on campus back in March, I had a chance to visit a few classes. The teaching was great, but when I visit classes, I also look at the students, and they were engaged, they were driving some of the questions, and their voice was heard, and that to me is more important. I’d rather have students who are owning the classroom, and I feel like that is very prevalent at Ursuline. I also appreciate that Ursuline’s mission statement ends with the word “joy,” which to me is what school is about. If we’re not having some joy in what we do every day, we’re doing something wrong.

What are your main priorities for the upcoming school year?

First of all, I want to strengthen and revive connections and contribute to creating the Ursuline community. The community last year was half on-campus, half off-campus for much of the year. I feel like taking the time to build and rebuild those relationships is important. I think we were all incredibly affected by COVID and all the implications that came along with it, especially adolescents. So, for me, the biggest priority is to get to know students, but also to help those connections happen and get those relationships formed. I do my best to visit classes and get to know students and teachers, to get to know what’s going on in a school. It would be bold of me to come in and say I want to change these four things at Ursuline because I don’t really know all the fifteen things at Ursuline that are great and wonderful, so I need to spend some time getting to know people and listening to them and learning more about what the school year looks and feels like here.

What are your thoughts about how to keep Ursuline Academy distinctly Ursuline?

That’s a bit of a tough one for me, because I haven’t lived all of the traditions that Ursuline has that make it distinctly Ursuline. But when I came to interview and met the girls, I found confident, thoughtful, committed students. The commitment to service was ever-present in what they spoke about, and to me that’s an important part of life. The students talked about their relationships with teachers and how they felt like those were so important to them, that their teachers are accessible, caring, and wanted them to do well. I don’t know if that’s uniquely Ursuline, but you don’t see it everywhere. I also think that Ursuline is small by public school standards, and that has value. Part of what I think it means is that, as a student, you have to be involved,

because if you’re not involved, then the activity won’t happen. If you don’t play soccer, or act in plays, or participate in speech, or do robotics, then they’re not going to run. So you’re heavily encouraged to really be a part of the school, and it’s expected. That to me is a great part of Ursuline.

After being in England, did you experience culture shock being back in the U.S.?

I still struggle a little bit with driving. I lived in a really small town while I was over there, so I had to get a license. As I drive in the U.S., I have to think, when I get to roundabouts, that I’m going to the right, not the left. And I sometimes have to think when I’m turning that I need to be going into the right lane, not the left. Honestly, it’s also just nice to be able to go to Dunkin’ Donuts and get some coffee. The U.K. doesn’t really believe in iced coffee. I do have to admit that Dunkin’ Donuts coffee has revived me a number of times back here in the U.S.

What are your personal interests?

I’ve been working in high schools for what feels like forever, so I watch a lot of high school sports and theater. I’m one of those people who, if something’s happening, I feel like I should be there. I also love to cook and bake. I love to bake and bring food into school because then I can have one piece of what I have created and not have to eat the rest of it for a week. I’m not very good at following recipes – I think recipes are guides and you as a cook should be adding in other things. As a former science teacher, I know what a lot of the chemicals in cooking do, so I feel like I can augment them and change them as I need to. I’m a bit of a homebody at times. I have two kids and a husband and pets so time spent with them is important to me. My family is from Massachusetts, so it’s been really nice to reconnect with them, too.

Fund for Ursuline

Thank you for your past support!

The Fund for Ursuline supports all aspects of the Ursuline student experience – everything from technology to athletic equipment, curriculum enhancement, and of course financial support to help us offer an Ursuline education to all qualified students.

We hope you will renew your support this year!

Any time is a great time to support Ursuline, but here are some special dates to keep in mind. December: Gifts made by December 31 may be tax deductible in tax year 2021.