Principal Spotlight: Deborah Schwope

Deborah Schwope has been an educator for 31 years, first as a teacher, where her leadership skills got her noticed by administration. Mrs. Schwope likes to joke that she was “born in charge.” Always able to see the “big picture,” Mrs. Schwope was genuinely surprised when her principal approached her about becoming an administrator. But then, the more she thought about it and heard her calling to become a principal, the more it felt like the perfect place for her talents. She is currently the principal at Resurrection Catholic School.Growing up, Mrs. Schwope attended Catholic school herself. She enjoyed recess – which she also likes to call “social time” – mostly because the students were able to play games and be creative. To this day, Mrs. Schwope truly believes in the importance of allotted time for students to play games like basketball or soccer, simply run around or talk to one another, and have a moment of fun during the school day. And while she did love her “social time,” her favorite class was science. In her junior year of high school, she won a National Science Foundation Grant to study the effects of clear-cutting in forests.Mrs. Schwope’s favorite aspect of Resurrection Catholic School is the sense of community. She sees the connections between students and their families, and knows that any family entering RCS will be warmly welcomed as friends and family. Aside from recess, her favorite part of the day is greeting her students at the carline in the morning and afternoon. She loves being able to connect with each of them and hear about their day.Mrs. Schwope says one of the unique things about RCS is the school’s efforts to make every student computer literate in all computer systems. By the time they graduate, all of the students at Resurrection will have worked on PCs, Chromebooks, and iPads. Mrs. Schwope is proud that RCS has robotics in the classroom and a student-developed TV show so that student’s technological needs are met in every aspect. There are a lot of exciting things happening at Resurrection. Mrs. Schwope and her teachers are striving to make RCS students proficient in writing, math, and technology, and are happy to announce that Programming has become a popular study at the school. She says that these advancements in education are what ensure that children are prepared for the future.The greatest lesson Mrs. Schwope has learned as a principal is to strive for integrity and teach her students to strive for it as well. When one of her students does something incorrectly, she wants them to have the courage to own up to it and offer solutions on how to fix it. This helps them take responsibility for their actions later in life.The Lakeland Catholic school's blog page has helpful hints for parents to encourage their children to excel academically, spiritually, and socially. To learn more about Catholic schools in Lakeland, contact us at 407-246-4800.