When a student in Marty Rubio’s AP government class seemed to be struggling, he took her aside and asked what was wrong. “I shouldn’t have signed up for this,” she said tearfully. “I don’t think I can handle the work!” Rubio, who has taught at Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School for 15 years, knew she needed more than a pep talk and a peer tutor. So they met weekly during the school day and reviewed the material together, point by point. She got a good grade, and gained something even more valuable: self-confidence.
“Not every school gives teachers and students the time and space to work through these issues,” says Rubio, who teaches grades nine and 12 and chairs the social studies department. “But Villa Duchesne is like a candy store for teachers! If you can figure out a way to enrich the educational experience for kids, Villa gives you the resources to do it.”
Founded in 1929, Villa Duchesne is an all-girls upper school for grades seven through 12; Oak Hill, established in 1971, is a coed lower school for junior kindergarten through sixth grade. A member of the international Sacred Heart Schools network, the school encourages a global outlook. Students share experiences and class projects online with kids from nearly 100 Sacred Heart schools worldwide.
You can tell the health of a school by the quality of the conversation around the faculty lunch table, Rubio says. “And the conversation around our table is incredibly energetic,” he notes. “When teachers love what they do, and when that enthusiasm is supported by parents and administrators, it’s infectious. Students feel it, and they respond.” The faculty room is lined with whiteboards, where teachers can brainstorm ideas that often turn into enrichment programs for students, he adds.
Those programs include an international art exchange project, an online AP computer science class for all Sacred Heart schools, and summer seminars organized by Rubio. Last year’s seminar, which included visits to Chicago’s Mercantile Exchange and Field Museum, explored how commodities such as oil, cotton, coffee and chocolate affect the economy and shape history. “It opened students’ eyes to the impact of trade policy and globalization, and to ethical concerns surrounding those issues,” he says.
Rubio recently received a Teacher of the Future Award from the National Association of Independent Schools. The only awardee from Missouri, he’s one of 35 independent school teachers nationwide chosen to help develop guidelines related to blended and online learning, student health and well-being, and other concerns. “It’s an honor to be chosen, sure, but I think I’m typical of the creativity and commitment encouraged at Villa,” he says. “Education is about more than getting students into the college of their choice. It’s about preparing them to live, work and lead as compassionate, ethical citizens in an evolving, complex world. At Villa, we help them become decent human beings who use their talents and intelligence to do some good in that world. That’s our hope.”
Pictured: Marty Rubio
Photo Courtesy of Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill School
[Villa Duchesne and Oak Hill Schoo l, located at 801 S. Spoede Road, holds an all-school open house Nov. 2. For more information, call 314.810.3566, email admissions@vdoh.org or visit vdoh.org.]