Guest column: Keeping the dream alive for a La Reina revival

I worked at La Reina High School and Middle School from 1973-2015 — teaching English for 37 of those years and serving the remaining five as a teaching mentor and the Alumnae Director. From 2018 to January 2024, I was on the Board of Trustees — until I was removed for not supporting the closure of the school. I could not in conscience do that.

For 42 years, I had witnessed the power of an all-girls school. For 42 years I had watched young women create, innovate, lead, argue, write, listen, speak, etc. When they graduated, they took on the world.

That’s why the announcement of the closure of the school hit me so hard — as it did many in the La Reina community.

When a determined group of parents, teachers, staff (current and retired), and alums secured an alternate site for the school in April, La Reina Academy, was born. Our hopes soared.

We made extraordinary progress. But not enough. It was too late. Many families had already made other plans. Afraid to take a chance. Afraid their daughters might be abandoned … yet again. Success slipped away.

Losing the dream of La Reina Academy has affected me profoundly.

I am not an advocate of What If conversations, but …

What if the powers to be (located in Ohio) had accepted just one of the many proposals put forth by the Board of Trustees in the last few years to maintain the school?

What if these same people had told the school community at the beginning of the 2023-24 school year, that they were going to close the school, instead of in late January, 2024, leaving parents and students scrambling and panicking?

Then perhaps there would have been more time to write a happy ending.

How do I move on?

Grieving is important. It is a process. So I pray more. Go to Mass more. Smell the roses more. Listen more.

I spend time celebrating those La Reina people who dreamed big dreams. A partial list: Laird Wilson, former head of maintenance; Cecilia Coe, former principal and teacher; Tim Paulson, father of three alums; Rebecca Adams, alum 1981, teacher, head of the English Department and Interim Principal; Esha Chhabra, alum 2004, author, and Chair of the quickly formed La Reina Academy Board; Kris Chisholm, alum 1992, English teacher, mother of Emma, alum 2015, who helped create the Save La Reina Facebook page; and Eric and Merilee Iverson, parents, who worked tirelessly and creatively to make this happen.

It didn’t.

I plan to keep alive the dream. I believe in resurrections. We have time to re-think the right kind of school for our young women.

I will keep you posted.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Guest column: Keeping the dream alive for a La Reina revival