By: Izzy Surmiller ’27
The start of the school year for Ursuline is also the start of our new principal, Ms. Brown. This is Ms. Brown’s first year at Ursuline as a principal, but she has worked at Ursuline before. She started at Ursuline originally during 2007 where she was a history and AP United States History teacher. She later became the Social Studies chair, assistant Dean of Students, and finally the Dean of Students for eight years. Then in 2022, she left Ursuline to become the principal of Saint John Paul the II high school for three years, now she is back at Ursuline continuing her duties but now as Principal of Ursuline.
No matter what role or job a teacher starts in, there will always be a huge responsibility. Becoming the Ursuline principal is a great responsibility that Ms. Brown has gracefully taken on. We all have challenges, even Ms. Brown, who said her biggest challenge is being a great mom to her son and being a great principal to the students at Ursuline. It is a comforting thought knowing that Ms. Brown is always trying to be the best for us.
There have been countless improvements made throughout the Ursuline campus like E.C., Bearista and the way we learn today, there is always room for improvement, including at Ursuline. Ms. Brown said that her biggest hope in five years for Ursuline is that we all can grow closer in our faith with Jesus. This is a hope and goal that everyone should pray and strive for since everyone can grow in their faith, and growing with God is ten times stronger than growing without him. Growing closer to God strengthens our relationship with ourselves and with others. Jesus was one of the great inspirations for Ms. Brown when deciding whether or not to become a principal. Of course, Ursuline will always stay up to date on the curriculum and helping the students and teachers, but the most important value of Ursuline will always be our connection with God and others.
There are so many things to love about Ursuline, including Sage food, bear, friends, teachers and our ability to be with and see God throughout the Ursuline campus. Ms. Brown’s favorite thing about UA is not something materialistic, but rather the community. She states, “The students— the girls here just bring this light and joy to people’s days,” every Ursuline girl has brought the light and joy to the campus, which is why Ursuline is so unique and special, not because of the technology, the campus or the food. It is because of the students who have walked through these halls. Another amazing thing about Ursuline is our faith. Ms. Brown said, “I love that we’re a faith-based school,” as our faith allows us all to connect with each other. Ms. Brown said, “There is such a privilege in being able to pray as a community, go to mass as a community, talk about Jesus as a community.”
Everyone has different and equally important high school experiences. Ms. Brown had the same fun as us Ursuline girls and would not change her high school experience, but she would have loved to have had advisory. Advisory is a wonderful way to connect with your classmates, to understand more about Ursuline and to have support when you need it the most. Ursuline is fortunate enough to have not just Ms. Brown but alsos her advice. One thing she would say to herself as a high school student would be to focus on your faith. Faith is not just something you learn from school, it is something you implement in your daily life.
There are so many things that make Ursuline unique, including our traditions, legacies, campus and students. Ms. Brown states, “They are Catholic schools, they are private schools, but we’re the only all girls Catholic school”, this is one of the remarkable things about Ursuline: we are connected not only because of our same gender, but identity as Christian. Ursuline has a great opportunity and has excelled in helping young women. Ms. Brown says, “So I think we have this opportunity to really invest in young women, and we can see like this is how girls learn best. “This helps all of Ursuline grow in academics, faith and coming into ourselves.
Every student is different and has a different experience, like our principal Ms. Brown, but we all have a favorite teacher and Ms. Brown’s is Coach Dupre her physics teacher, Ms. Brown said, “And he was good about making sure we would do really well —- he would highlight that in a really nice way to where we never felt uncomfortable,”.
Everyone at Ursuline is so lucky to have Ms. Brown as the principle and to have her as someone you can lean on. Hopefully by the end of this school year, everyone feels like they have gotten closer to Ms. Brown in some way and realizes that she is always here for the students at Ursuline.
THE BEAR FACTS 