My name is Zenza Laws, I am the incoming principal of St. Bernardine Parish School and I am very excited to be a new member of this educational community.

I was born and raised in Chicago, IL and in 1980 I received a Bachelor of Arts degree in both Education and Communications from Rosary College in River Forest, IL. I returned to graduate school years later, and in 1999 I received a Master of Arts degree in Educational Administration from Dominican University.

I began my career in education 27 years ago as a seventh grade teacher for Holy Angels School on the Southside of Chicago and I have since been a champion of Catholic education. After 6 years of teaching on the city’s Southside, I began as a teacher on the Westside of Chicago at St. Mel Holy Ghost Grammar School. I later joined the educational team of St. Thomas Aquinas, which ultimately became St. Martin de Porres, as a junior high teacher and curriculum developer. After becoming the assistant principal, I thought long and hard about the impact I might be able to realize as the principal of a Catholic grammar school. In 1999, I became the principal of the Academy of St. Benedict the African, during which time I began to develop many of the practical skills needed to be an effective educational administrator.

I am currently a member of the strategic planning committee for St. Giles School in Oak Park, IL and I was also a member of the school improvement plan for St. Ann’s school. In my free time I volunteer at a number of homeless shelters throughout the city of Chicago and I am an avid bibliophile.

I currently reside in the Galewood/Oak Park area with my husband, Joseph Laws. We have three children; Veronique, who will be commencing her sophomore at St. Ignatius College Prep, Zenita, who will be starting her senior at Marquette University in Milwaukee and Joseph, who will be entering his final year of law school at Georgetown University. I am very excited to become a new member of the St. Bernardine Parish family and I look forward to a successful and rewarding school year.