FACULTY NOTES
Faculty Notes
St. Ursula Villa Bids Farewell to Retirees
“I have always viewed working with
St. Ursula Villa students as a privilege
and will miss it tremendously.”
MS. KATHY FINKBEINER
In addition to Principal Polly Duplace, two valued members of the St. Ursula Villa community conclude their service to the
school. Ms. Kathy Finkbeiner and Ms. Maripat Price begin their new retirement chapters and leave the Villa this year.
Ms. Kathy Finkbeiner
joined St. Ursula Villa in 1973
as a fourth-grade teacher. She
paused her teaching career
for the birth of her daughter,
Brielle, and rejoined the Villa
faculty as a fifth-grade teacher
in 1978. Ms. Finkbeiner shared
fifth grade instruction with Ms. Nancy Moormann for
several years and moved to third grade in 1992 where she
spent the remaining 28 years of her illustrious career.
She reflects, “I have loved teaching at St. Ursula Villa.
Our students are highly motivated, bright, curious, and
actively supported by their families. I cherish the many
‘second generation’ students whose parents I also taught
over the years. It has been fun for me to have these
families come back to the Villa. I see how well t
hey are doing and know they had the faith and legacy
that comes with choosing St. Ursula Villa for their
children’s education.”
Ms. Finkbeiner’s rich trove of memories includes long-gone
campus landmarks such as a “school cookout on the back
patio and swimming in the pool” - now the site of Villa
Way. She fondly remembers the Ursuline Sisters who
taught in classrooms and served as principals over the
years, as well as the school’s shift to lay administration.
“I have always felt the school leadership were very good,
supportive, wonderful advocates for the students and their
experience here.”
Serving on the Master Plan Steering Committee, Ms.
Finkbeiner provided a teacher’s perspective on the campus
reorganization and building plans, ensuring proposed
expansions would provide critically needed space while
enhancing classroom instruction and student learning.
She recalls long committee discussions, saying “There
was such a feeling of lack of space in the Main School and
converting six classrooms into four has given us so much
room and space, and is so well done” and “it is wonderful
to see the Manor House, now so big, bright, and airy, just
what you would hope for as our little ones’ environment.”
Current and former St. Ursula Villa students and families,
Villa teachers past and present, family friends, and many
others celebrated Ms. Finkbeiner’s remarkable career with
a “drive-by parade” past her home. “It was such a fun and
wonderful parade and I am so grateful to Villa parents
Courtney Hass and Annie (Bolan) Wittekind (Villa Class
of ‘90) for coordinating and making it possible!”
Ms. Finkbeiner plans to take adult education classes,
travel, spend more time with friends and family, and
finally attend “Grandparents’ Day” at her grandchildren’s
schools. She summarizes her remarkable Villa career,
“I have always viewed working with St. Ursula Villa
students as a privilege and will
miss it tremendously.”
Ms. Maripat Price
joined St. Ursula Villa as
Development Assistant in
2009 and served in that role
for almost 10 years, leaving
the Villa in December 2019.
As part of St. Ursula Villa’s Development/Advancement
team, Ms. Price supported the department’s various
functions and activities in many ways. She worked with
Donor Perfect and other systems to update constituent
addresses and information as well as to ensure tracking
and acknowledgement of donors which involved ongoing
interaction with parents, alumni, and grandparents.
In addition to those tasks, Ms. Price applied her
considerable artistic talents to many other areas including
seasonally-themed wreaths and Villabration decorations
and centerpieces. Most notably, Ms. Price created holiday
magic in the Manor House with her whimsical Christmas
trees in the lobby and lovely decorations on bannisters,
mantels, and special places throughout the building. She
recalls, “I loved hearing the excitement in the children’s
voices when they walked into school after Thanksgiving
Break and saw the Christmas tree for the first time! It
was a real joy for me!”
Ms. Price describes her St. Ursula Villa career as
“very special and rewarding” and misses the Villa’s
extraordinary sense of community and unique history.
In her retirement, Ms. Price has refocused her time and
energy on designing three-dimensional pop-up creations
she refers to as “paper sculptures” as well as caring for her
mother and visiting her grandchildren.
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