It is with an enormous amount of gratitude that we mark the retirement of Sarah Gallagher from Marymount International School, Rome at the end of this academic year. Sarah has been part of the RSHM school communities since 2010, beginning at Marymount International School, London where she served as Headmistress. In 2016 she took on the headship of Marymount International School, Rome.
She is an educator par excellence, committed to a culture of lifelong learning, respect for diversity, and has led both schools to a global vision where graduates make a difference in our complex and ever-changing world. In my work with Sarah over these past fifteen years, I have been privileged to collaborate with a visionary leader who is deeply committed to the RSHM values of educating the whole person, honoring their distinct gifts, and forming students in a global vision that celebrates diversity and respect for the other.
The educational environment s constantly changing as new technologies become partof our culture. Sarah has been instrumental in integrating technology, STEM programs, leadership development, and service learning into the educational experience. At both schools, she introduced Fabrication Laboratories – “maker spaces” that support STEM education and digital learning, fostered international learning by leading the schools’ International Baccalaureate (IB) programs as well as allowing for a diversity of learning opportunities for all students. Under her leadership, the schools’ IB results excelled, achieving significantly higher grades than the world average.
Sarah’s leadership includes not only her concern for student development, but for faculty and staff development as well. As anyone who has worked with Sarah will tell you, her extremely high standards stretch faculty and staff to be their best selves and visionary educators. Ongoing formation in RSHM charism and values, technological advances such as artificial intelligence, environmental responsibility, development in issues of gender identity, and Catholic moral teaching have all been at the heart of her educational leadership.
Perhaps what has most impressed me is her recent efforts to bring the Catholic tradition of meditation and contemplation into the school environment for students as well as faculty and staff. In a world where we are all bombarded with noise, constant activity, the demands of social media and digital technology, she has rightly discerned that educating the whole person including their spiritual dimension is essential to a well-balanced life. Helping the school community to find one’s deep center and entering into a relationship with God there is an invaluable contribution. Sarah is deeply committed to the Catholic tradition, and brings to her work a God-centered approach that grounds the person in ultimate values.
It would not be a complete tribute to Sarah without mentioning her contribution to the Global Network of RSHM Schools. She has been instrumental in organizing the Global Network from its beginning. The Global Network of RSHM Schools grew and developed from the four Eastern American Province Schools. Sarah not only supported that development, but also was instrumental in leading, with several other school heads, the growth of the Global Network, contributing her expertise, her vision and commitment to the RSHM vision of education. She has served on the Coordinating Committee that plans the yearly conferences and has most recently led the Committee in formulating a five-year strategic plan. In collaboration with all the heads, they have developed the first vision statement for the Global Network, which states: Rooted in the Charism and Mission of the RSHM, we envision schools that form globally competent, spiritually grounded leaders dedicated to building a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world.
As an RSHM community, we could not be more grateful to Sarah for her vision and efforts within our educational ministries! While we are sad to see her “officially” retire, we wish her well on this next chapter of her life and look forward to other forms of collaboration.