Associate Principal Carl Hudson, the only African American administrator in the building, said having a diverse staff can allow students to see they can become anything they aspire to be, regardless of who they are or where they come from.

Yet, at MHS the teaching and administrative staff remains predominantly of Caucasian, or of European descent.

While considered a progressive district, Rockwood may still lag behind other districts when it comes to diversity among staff members.

“I came from Parkway, and when I came here I thought they would be very similar,” Hudson said. “I do think Rockwood is a little behind the times on certain things, while Parkway is much more diverse. It’s a shame that in 2015, Marquette High School has no African American teachers in this building.”

Noelle Clatto, former language arts teacher, resigned in the fall. She is Vietnamese-American and said it shouldn’t matter what racial group a teacher is a part of, as long as the students receive a quality education.

“I don’t think that for the majority of the kids it would matter if it were me standing up there teaching AP Lit, or if it was Mrs. Fretwell who happens to be Caucasian,” Clatto said. “But I will say that I think it’s a shame that we’re not representative of what society is really like.”

“It’s a shame that we’re not representative of what society is really like”
Noelle Clatto

When Clatto started teaching in Rockwood 16 years ago, she, like every other new teacher in the district, had to go through training to learn the district curriculum and how to operate within MHS.

“Sitting in that room, all I saw around me were blonde hair, blue eyed, white, young females and that was my first glimpse of Rockwood,” Clatto said. “There was no prejudice towards me but it was kind of disconcerting just because I came from teaching in the city.”

Before teaching at MHS, Clatto was a teacher at Gateway Tech, a magnet school for the St. Louis Public School District where the teaching staff was very diverse.

“As far as the teachers were concerned, it was a really good mixture,” Clatto said. “We’re not just talking black and white, there were Asians and Eastern Europeans as well.”

Monica Bremer, Spanish teacher, is Panamanian-American and said the differences in cultures and academic structure between Panama and the United States are what cause her to take a different approach in her style of teaching.

“I grew up in a different society with different formats or patterns of education,” Bremer said. “Not just academically, but structurally and the society itself is different, so that comes into my style of teaching and the way I approach the work that I do.”

One unique piece of Bremer’s teaching style is stressing the importance of two words she has found more crucial than any other throughout her global travels: patience and tolerance. Bremer said these words allow students to open their eyes to other cultures and allow them to see the world from someone else’s perspective.

Being from another culture does give Bremer an advantage outsiders don’t have, in that she can connect with students of her same culture on a deeper level than others may be able to.

“I am Hispanic, and when I get Hispanic students I feel like we belong to the same culture,” Bremer said. “I feel the need to help and support them in any way that I can, especially if they are new to the school.”
Bremer said a diverse teaching staff will benefit students by providing different perspectives from other parts of the world.

Superintendent Dr. Eric Knost fully supports diversity within Rockwood schools.

“I think it creates experiences that are a cross section of the world,” Knost said. “Colleges are usually very diverse and our world tends to be diverse, so to give students an experience that considers, not only diversity among their peers, but also the adults that they’re around creates even that much more of a rich experience.”

Dr. Knost said the diversity of MHS staff is fairly typical of a Rockwood school, and while the district is always trying to bring new and unique teachers and faculty into the Rockwood family, their qualifications will always be paramount.

Knost said that while having a diverse staff is beneficial so students are able to learn from teachers with different cultural backgrounds from them, minority students also can connect to teachers through a common bond.

“If there are minority groups that share that same perspective, then that brings a connection,” Knost said. “It can sometimes brings a voice to students that would share that perspective that may otherwise be a minority group.”