As you know, St. Thomas of Villanova is a wonderful Parish Family because of the gift of your presence and your ever-present generosity. And we have a great Pastoral Staff who is committed to serving you and seeing that Christ's message of peace and hope is brought to all. I am personally grateful for all the hard work and the many, many hours which our staff puts in for so little pay. (Their bonus is the plenty of prayers which are said for them by me!)

It is with deep regret that I announce the resignation of Mr. John LaRoche effective at the end of this current academic year. John has been our Principal for the past seven years, and he was my first hire at St. Thomas. John informed me on Sunday, May 12th that he might be moving. And on Wednesday, May 15th, he told me that he was offered and accepted a position in Florida.

I would like to share his letter which was sent this week to all of our school families:

Dear St. Thomas of Villanova Community:

It is with incredible sadness that I am informing this great school and parish community that I will be resigning my position as Principal, effective at the end of this school year.

I would like to thank everyone for all their prayers and support during the last seven incredible years that I have been the Principal. To all the parents, students, staff and parishioners, I can never thank you enough for all the understanding and compassion you have given me on my journey at St. Thomas.

As many of you know, my wonderful wife Rita was an elementary school Principal and has been retired for several years. We have been considering downsizing in anticipation of both of us being retired one day. Well, I am not retiring, yet. We decided to put our home on the market four weeks ago just to see what might happen, and it was under contract in just six days. The very next day I received a call on some property that I have had for sale the last two years in North Carolina, and it sold. Then things just started to fall into place. My daughter, Jackie, is going to attend graduate school at the University of Florida, and as fate would have it, I was also offered a position at St. Francis Catholic High School in Gainesville. I am very excited to be joining their staff as the Assistant Principal with additional duties teaching History and maybe even coaching a little football or baseball. Everything has happened incredibly fast, and I feel certain that the hand of God is guiding my family and me every step of the way.

I have been incredibly blessed to be a part of the St. Thomas of Villanova family. I will miss everyone, and you will all be in my thoughts and prayers every day. This is an awesome parish and school community, and it will always remain one of the most cherished gifts that God has ever given to me.

God Bless,

John LaRoche, Principal 3

The elementary school principal is the administrator, faith and instructional leader of the local school and serves as the executive officer of the local governance board in a Catholic school of the Archdiocese of Chicago. In addition, the principal oversees the fiscal vitality of the school. The elementary school principal is hired by and is accountable to the Pastor for the operations of the school.

I have had many meetings these last two weeks with the Archdiocese of Chicago, the Catholic Schools Office and the Assistant Superintendent as we must follow their guidelines and process. Therefore, in consultation with them, I have formed the Principal Search Committee. All of the respective parish constituencies are represented on this Search Committee. Our fellow parishioners have very graciously accepted my appointment of them to this important endeavor . In addition to myself, the members of the Committee are:

We have already begun to meet as a committee, and we have met with the Assistant Superintendent of Schools, and we have already planned out our strategy, and we have already begun to interview prospective candidates. (Yes, its been a busy time with numerous meetings.) But we guarantee that we will find the best principal for our school. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to ask me. Meanwhile, please keep this committee and its work in your prayers. I will keep you posted as we continue this very accelerated but thorough process.

John’s faithful leadership and guidance has well served our parish school families. And he has been a key Pastoral Staff member supporting our many parish ministries. He is a gentle giant who truly loves and cares for our children. We wish John well as—like our 8th graders— he graduates now to High School! Pray for John LaRoche and his family as they begin a new chapter in their life’s journey. And, pray for us.