What started out as a special Mass July 1 for the new administrative leadership team at Santa Clara High School promises to have lasting impact --- in more ways than one.

During that liturgy new principal Siobhan O'Reilly-Hill gave each of her administrative staff a yellow rose named "The New Day." Since then, a number of parents of students have begun bringing rose bushes to the campus to be planted in the patio area outside the main office. Meanwhile, students and staff members have begun the task of removing old shrubbery and cleaning the patio in preparation for Santa Clara's new school year.

It promises to be a year of hope for the 103-year-old high school that has a storied history, but has struggled in recent years. Last spring, O'Reilly-Hill --- whose contagious enthusiasm and dedication as principal helped bring Our Lady of Guadalupe School in Oxnard's poorer La Colonia section to national prominence through its students' excellent math and reading performance --- was assigned to Santa Clara. Father Mike Sezzi was named the school's full-time chaplain.

"Siobhan O'Reilly-Hill is widely respected as an educational leader who works tirelessly to ensure success for every student," said Nancy Coonis, archdiocesan superintendent of secondary schools, in announcing the appointment.

Ready to help

One of Santa Clara's biggest assets is the clear commitment of the administration, faculty, staff, parents and alumni to making the "Home of the Saints" excel. Recently, O'Reilly-Hill met with members of the alumni as they celebrated a reunion. "They want to be 'Saints' and they want to have ownership," she says of the meeting with alumni.

After some discussion about the needs of the school, their first reaction was: "What do we need to do to help you?" That feeling is shared by others in the local community. At the beginning of summer, donations came in to help revamp the Library and Career Center. The school was able to acquire new computers for the center as well as DSL lines in classrooms, and some much-needed renovation was begun through donations and use of funding already available.

And a tremendous amount of work (including long hours of meetings) has gone into making the school ready for the fall. Schedules have been developed, the curriculum re-vamped. O'Reilly-Hill estimates that she and her administrators have been put in many an 18-hour workday.

But that's all right, for it means the chance to get to know, and build enthusiasm with, the students, teachers and parents.

"I've never seen harder working parents and students," says Mike Schabert, the new campus minister who had been a highly-regarded youth minister at Blessed Junípero Serra Church in Camarillo. "I believe in the students here, the life that is within them, the spirit that is within them. And I believe in the team that's been assembled, and I believe in the leadership. I wouldn't have come here if I didn't. Community is the reason why I believe this place has tremendous presence and future hope."

One of the students working on beautification of the campus was senior Claudia de Vera. A work-study student this summer, Claudia has a lot invested in her school. She attended Santa Clara Elementary School before becoming the third person in her family to have attended Santa Clara High School.

Carrying a 4.30 GPA into her senior year, Claudia had hoped to attend University of California, San Diego, but she may change plans since her family will probably be moving to Texas after graduation and she might then attend Baylor University. In the meantime, she is looking forward to a great senior year and is excited by all that is happening on her campus.

"There are a lot of changes going on with the new administration," she says. "They're working at cleaning up the campus and making it look a lot nicer. And it looks like it's going to be a really promising year."

'Small' school is O.K.

Members of the administration at Santa Clara High School feel much the same. They see promise and a great deal of hope in the students and families of the school. At present 240 students are registered to begin the school year and Siobhan O'Reilly-Hill, principal, is happy with her small school.

"To be a good school you need to focus on what is in front of you," she says, and not to recruit more students just to increase numbers. She far prefers to concentrate on developing the community of learners that already exists on her campus and then other students will join the school community.

Schabert is committed to the students already enrolled at Santa Clara but feels that "we need to show we are providing something that students are not getting anywhere else. I think that is essential."

"We don't want to be ordinary or run of the mill," he adds. "There is an advantage to being small, too."

With its long history that includes a string of basketball and cross country titles, Santa Clara High School has a proud past. "I believe in the Catholic community and I believe in legacy," says Schabert. "We are not only building from the past, but we are building toward the future. Even though Santa Clara has been here 103 years, it is like starting from scratch in some ways and that is exciting."

That excitement is definitely contagious. When asked what makes her love Santa Clara so much, Claudia de Vera replies, "The people, the atmosphere, the smaller classes, more attention. And we learn about God and go to Mass. It's a lot of fun."