Patty Fagin has always been a firm believer that success in life begins with a quality education.
Fagin, the new headmistress of Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Princeton, has devoted more than 30 years of her life to making sure young people receive a solid foundation through academics. Her love and passion for education is something that was instilled in her from an early age, she said.
“I came from a family that really valued education,” said Fagin, a native of St. Louis, Mo. “That was the way we saw that you could maximize your potential and really end up at the end of the day being able to say ‘I did give something back, I did leave this world a better place.’”
For her family, that value was specifically found in Catholic education. Fagin, the oldest of six children, said that her parents took great pride in the fact that all of their children attended Catholic elementary schools, high schools and colleges. Fagin continued the tradition by sending her two sons, Patrick and Michael, to Catholic schools as well.
Fagin graduated from the all-girls Notre Dame High School in St. Louis and then attended Fontbonne College, St. Louis, where she received a bachelor’s degree in special education in 1976. She then began her first teaching job in Assumption School, St. Louis, as a remedial reading instructor.
At the time, a new focus in education was being placed on students with learning disabilities, which was something that greatly interested Fagin.
“Schooling had always been easy for me and I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to go to school every day and not feel like that was a fun place to be, so I wanted to spend time with kids who struggled,” she said.
Over time, Fagin said that her experiences of working with special needs children led her to develop a great appreciation for what they had to offer, which she said is something that is often overlooked in a regular classroom setting.
“They are often times the kids who think outside the box, who are very creative, who have a different angle or a different take that for me add a flavor to the classroom that should never be missed,” Fagin said. “So I am a big advocate of schools who are inclusive of kids with special gifts and talents and learning differences. The bottom line is that we all learn differently and it just takes teachers that are talented and committed to looking at all the different ways they can address kids’ special needs when it comes to learning.”
After teaching at schools in Missouri and North Carolina, Fagin obtained a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. She then became executive director of Guilford Day School, a school for students with learning disabilities in Greensboro.
But Fagin said she felt called to return to her roots in Catholic education, leading her to become principal of St. Louis’ Villa Duchesne High School – which like Stuart is an all-girls Sacred Heart school – in 2004.
“[Guilford] was a wonderful school but it wasn’t religious based,” she said. “So when kids struggle you can address the mechanics, but you couldn’t address the heart, the soul, the spirit of the child.
“So to me, I wanted to go to a school where we could look at all aspects, where kids – whether they were strong students or academically challenged students – had that opportunity to address all their needs. And the spiritual side is an important need.”
Fagin said that the Sacred Heart schools’ philosophy is an ideal match for her own vision of education. And when the opportunity to be the head of one of the schools in the Sacred Heart network became a possibility, Fagin was quick to jump at the opportunity, even though it meant relocating to New Jersey.
In Stuart, Fagin said, she knew that like with Villa Duchesne she was heading to a school that would suit her talents and where she could carry on an excellent legacy of Catholic education.
“This is a school that is very academically rigorous but it also serves the needs of some kids with learning disabilities,” she said. “This fits all the way around.”
Since relocating to Princeton with her husband, Tim, Fagin has joined St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Skillman (Diocese of Metuchen). In their previous parishes, the couple has been involved in Marriage Encounter and in preparing couples for marriage.
Fagin said that she is looking forward to opportunities to become involved in their new parish and to serve within the community. She also hopes to continue to empower the young women of Stuart to take on leadership roles of their own in society.
“I am a big believer that education helps – especially for young women – to maximize our potential,” Fagin said. “And I think that is what God calls us to do, to maximize our gifts.”
