Mentor principals have played a critical role in the success of the Latino Enrollment Institute (LEI) since the program’s inception in 2012. The experience, accountability, and personal attention that these leaders provide has been a defining characteristic of the LEI, helping Catholic school principals—and their teams— institute lasting changes.
After schools attend the LEI summer conference, mentor principals maintain regular contact with the 4-6 school leaders in their group through monthly video conference calls. These conversations, which focus on various themes related to Latino outreach, recruitment, and enrollment, are an opportunity for school leaders to learn from one another and receive real-time consultation and feedback from their mentor on some of the things that they’re doing in their school.
The commitment of our LEI mentors, most of whom are still active Catholic school principals themselves, is truly the engine that drives the LEI. These Mentor Spotlight pieces are intended to be a fun way to help you get to know these incredible school leaders—both professionally and personally—who dedicate so much of their lives to this mission.
This month, we highlight Patrick Jefferies. Patrick originally attended the LEI in 2015 as a member of Cohort 4. At that time, he had just completed his first year as principal of St. Andrew School in Riverton, Utah. He arrived at St. Andrew a year earlier with a mandate and a plan to turn the school around, which had been experiencing a rather substantial and alarming decline in enrollment. By implementing a number of proven LEI strategies, committing to doing the little things right, and working to restore the trust of the Latino community, Patrick was able to significantly grow his school's enrollment, quickly drawing the attention of the LEI leadership team. Not long after, Patrick joined the LEI team of mentors and has helped guide other school leaders along this same path.
Read the full interview with Patrick Jefferies below.
