Tina Taylor-Ritzler got her official invocation and Mass as the head of Trinity High School in River Forest last week.
Taylor-Ritzler was picked in December to lead the all-girls Catholic school and she’s been leading the school since June, but on Sept. 10 it became formal with a Mass and then, on Sept. 11, a reception. The reception was an opportunity to welcome the new president, and it gave Taylor-Ritzler a chance to talk up her first 100 days and her accomplishments — and her vision for the future.
Taylor-Ritzler, a former board member of the high school and a professor at Dominican University, is also the mother of two former students at Trinity. But she said leading the school was her biggest professional achievement.
“It’s the honor of a lifetime,” she told the crowd at the reception. Taylor-Ritzler said when people ask why she’d take a role at a high school, she said it wasn’t a hard choice.
“My answer is, really, that I feel called. I feel called to serve this beautiful ministry,” she said.
The school seems happy to have her. Judy Schaeffer, a past president and School Board member, said Taylor-Ritzler came highly qualified. Schaeffer was on the hiring committee and she said Taylor-Ritzler’s close connection to the school both as the parent of alumni plus as a board member put her ahead of other candidates.
“I think the one thing was she was already 110% in the mission of the school,” said Schaeffer. “That really puts her above everyone else. There were some good candidates but they would have had to learn that. Also, she’s an excellent administrator. So, it was kind of a no brainer, quite frankly.”
Schaeffer said Taylor-Ritzler knows the school community and how tight-knit the campus is. One of the more important roles for the president is simply being present and knowing the students.
“At a lot of schools, they don’t know the president because it’s a big school,” explained Schaeffer. “But in a small school like this, the girls really knew me and they’d respond when I walked down the halls.”
Sophomore Eliza Davis agreed. She said one of the best parts of Trinity is the closeness.
“It’s the community that sets it apart for me,” she said. “It’s such a tight knit sisterhood.”
In her first 100 days as president. Taylor-Ritzler said she’s proud of the progress she’s made — from adding small amenities like umbrellas over the tables in the courtyard to bigger improvements like air conditioning.
“This went to the top of my list, air conditioning in every classroom,” she said.
But there were also small flourishes she pointed to, which improve spirit.
“We put chandeliers in the first-floor bathrooms because I’m a girl mom,” she said. “I like things pretty. It matters. When (students) came back to school, and they were taking selfies and they were saying, ‘We’re bougie now,’ I thought, joy. Joy promotes success.”
And she also pointed to lining up three scholarships for students who’d like to attend the private school but couldn’t afford it.
“You cannot take advantage of any of this if you cannot afford it,” she said. “If you want to be here, we want to have you and we want to make it affordable and possible.”
Jesse Wright is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
