Horizons Fall 2014

34 HORIZONS D edication to her family delayed Kathleen Kiley ’s career as an educator. Now, it is the families in one of Orlan- do’s poorest neighborhoods that Kiley, Ed.D., 2005, is dedicated to in her role as principal of St. Andrew Catholic School. St. Andrew largely enrolls economically disadvan- taged students from the surrounding Pine Hills sec- tion of Orlando, where a quarter of the population lives in poverty. One of the most ethnically diverse of the 36 schools in the Diocese of Orlando, approxi- mately 68 percent of the students at the school are African American, reflecting the surrounding com- munity, and it includes large populations of Haitian and Bahamian students. The desire to serve the Pine Hills community is what brought Kiley, who earned both a master’s degree and a doctorate in educational leadership from NSU’s Abraham S. Fischler School of Education, to St. Andrew. “I just fell in love with the kids—it’s hard not to,” she said. “I feel I’m making more of an impact here. The families are so thankful they have this opportunity, so you can’t help but want to assist them in their journey.” The opportunity for these students to attend St. Andrew, a private, prekindergarten through eighth grade school, is largely because of Step Up For Students, a program that pro- vides low-income students with scholarships to private schools. The program is funded by donations from corpora- tions, which receive a 100 percent tax credit for every dollar they donate. Approximately 80 percent of the students at St. Andrew receive Step Up For Students scholarships that cover nearly all of the $5,500-per-year tuition. St. Andrew makes up any gaps between the scholarship and full tuition. While tuition may be covered, the students’ families still have to make a commitment. “Parents still have to sacrifice because there is no bus trans- portation, there is no free lunch, and they have to buy uni- forms,” said Kiley. “Because they are making that extra effort to send their child here—some work two jobs, many work in the service industries—we feel they are committed… .” That commitment from families and students has helped Kiley and the school thrive. In 2009, it earned the designa- tion as a National Blue Ribbon School from the U.S. Depart- ment of Education. The program recognizes public and private schools where students perform at very high levels or students make significant gains in academic achievement. Most recently, Kiley was the winner of the 2014 Distin- guished Administrator Award from the Diocese of Orlando. (Principals from the 36 schools in the diocese were eligible.) “I feel that my successes are the school’s successes, and we celebrate together,” she said. “So it was a big celebration that little St. Andrew in Pine Hills—one of the poorest schools in the diocese—had the principal of the year.” Kiley’s road to becoming a principal was a winding one. After graduating from Marquette University with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and education, a crowded job market for teachers pushed her into a marketing position in Milwau- kee. After 10 years in marketing, she spent the next decade as a stay-at-home mom raising her four children. In 1995, 20 years removed from college, Kiley dusted off her education degree and got her start as a third-grade teacher at a Catholic school in Orlando. After just three years in the classroom, she became an assistant principal, a move she made to impact a greater number of students. A Commitment to Education By Alan Hancock alumni profile Kathleen Kiley, center, principal at St. Andrew Catholic School in Orlando, observes teacher Lori Auger with first-grader Valeria Cabello.