Posted on May 30, 2026
Dear Saint James Family,
I hope this note finds you well! I am excited to be joining this wonderful community as I serve as the next principal of Saint James Catholic School. My journey to where I am today began many years ago. I was born in Louisiana, moved to South Carolina, then to Alabama, before finally landing in Savannah, Georgia, at the age of ten. No, my immediate family isn’t military, although members of my extended family are; my dad just happens to be a chemical engineer. His job caused us to move. When we landed in Savannah, my parents were determined to keep us there until my siblings and I finished high school. They wanted us to attend the same schools my mom’s family attended. I will forever be grateful to them for making the necessary sacrifices to provide us with a Catholic School education.
When we moved to Savannah, I was able to attend a school with religious sisters for the first time. In fact, Saint James in Savannah has the presence of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I was nervous to attend a school with religious sisters, but as you can probably guess, it made a lasting impact on me. Growing up, I planned my future out numerous times, but God had other plans. At one point, I wanted to be an astronaut or a veterinarian. In middle school, I felt a strong desire for service and was going to join the military after high school. Extended family members would ask me periodically what I wanted to be when I grew up. I’d always respond with one of these ideas. However, there was always a follow-up question: have you considered religious life? I tried my hardest to brush that question off and ignore it. I wanted nothing to do with religious life and thought surely, God wouldn’t be calling me to it. This was even though I was only becoming more and more involved in my local parish community.
After Mass on vocation awareness Sunday of my sophomore year of high school, one of our Sisters stopped my mom after Mass. She told her, I think Beth might have a vocation to religious life. I walked up as the conversation was ending. I pestered my mom for the rest of the day to find out what Sister had said. Eventually, my mom gave in and told me that Sister seems to think I might have a vocation to religious life. I tried to laugh it off as I had done so in the past. However, this time the thought wouldn’t go away. I thought that if this is from God, I should probably pay attention to it. So, I began to consider religious life.
My only exposure to religious sisters at this point had been the IHM Sisters in grade school and the Sisters of Mercy in high school. During college, I began to discern religious life. I visited several different communities, but always found such peace, joy, and an ‘at home’ feeling with our IHM sisters at our Motherhouse. I could see myself as an IHM. After I graduated, I began to teach while still discerning. Eventually, I applied to enter the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Since entering religious life in 2016, I’ve had the opportunity to teach, receive my master’s degree from the University of Notre Dame, and serve as a vice principal in Philadelphia, among a variety of other things. It’s been an incredibly blessed and joy-filled journey so far. I’m so excited to see what this next chapter will hold. I look forward to meeting you. Know that you are remembered daily in my prayers.
God Bless,
Sister Beth
