MILLTOWN —Eileen Wilkinson has been at Saint Mark’s High School three different stints, including the most recent since March 2022, when she returned as a social studies teacher, then department chair and assistant principal. When the school had a sudden need for a principal just weeks before students returned this year, she took the next step, assuming the principal’s position on an interim basis.
No worries, Wilkinson said recently.
“For this, I was born,” she said. “And I mean that seriously.”
Her history with Saint Mark’s goes back more than three decades. Wilkinson arrived at the school in 1990; she spent the next 10 years as a social studies teacher. After a year away, she came back from 2001-07. Her relationship with Saint Mark’s is one reason why she believes she is a good fit for the principal’s job. She also recently completed her doctorate in educational leadership, with the topic being “lay secondary education principals in the role of spiritual leader.”
“I feel like I’ve been preparing about 30 years for this job,” Wilkinson said.
History is not her only field of expertise. A theology minor, Wilkinson also taught classes in that subject. She has also worked in Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia during her career. She recalled that before she arrived at Saint Mark’s the first time, she knew it had an excellent reputation.
The school has always been supportive of her educational opportunities. Wilkinson is a Fulbright Scholar and once had an opportunity to go to South Africa, which Saint Mark’s leaders encouraged her to do.
The Phiadelphia native grew up in a devout Catholic family. She attended Archbishop Ryan High School before heading to Chestnut Hill College. She earned her master’s degree from Villanova University and her doctorate from Immaculata University.
Wilkinson said Saint Mark’s will be instituting an advanced-placement course in African-American studies this year. There is always a “constant and continual look” at the curriculum, she said, and is encouraged by the growth in the school’s STRIPE — science, technology, robotics, innovation, prototying and engineering — offerings. The lab opened last year.
She added that Saint Mark’s is also looking at its visual and performing arts to see how they could be improved.
““And of course always looking at, ‘Is what we are offering our students what they really need?’ Are we keeping current?” she said.
Students should not notice much difference from how Saint Mark’s operates compared to past years “because really, a school is who students face day in and day out, and that’s our teachers who have been so encouraging. The student experience will stay consistent, if not improve, because that’s our goal.”
Wilkinson, 63, lives in Montgomery County, Pa., where she is a member of St. Philip Neri Parish. Aside from spending time with family and friends, she loves to swim and is an avid reader. She also likes to visit museums. When she was a teacher in Washington, she volunteered at the Smithsonian Institution for four years.
She has thought about her future at Saint Mark’s but will respect whatever decision diocesan leaders make. She doesn’t see herself retiring anytime soon.
“I still have energy and passion for the role,” she said. “We know that Catholic education is at a crossroads. I plan to stay on for a while.”
