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Holy Names Adds New Faces

Courtesy of Angier Miller

High School Principal Penny Jennings greets students during the first week of school at the Academy of the Holy Names.

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 10, 2008

SOUTH TAMPA - The Academy of the Holy Names has come a long way since the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary began their first Tampa convent and school in a blacksmith shop on Twiggs and Marion streets.

In 1929, the school moved to Bayshore Boulevard, and today the landmark campus serves almost 900 students in its elementary and high school divisions.

The academy welcomed the 2008-09 school year with newcomers at the helm: Penny Jennings, high school principal, and elementary Principal Darcy Devrnja.

Devrnja, who has 27 years of Catholic education experience, just moved to Tampa from Knoxville, Tenn., where she was the curriculum coordinator at St. Joseph's School. She replaces Jennifer Bigelow, who moved to a school in Raleigh, N.C.

Devrnja has a bachelor's in elementary education and a master's in education administration from Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio.

She was born and raised in Ohio and said she grew up with a call to nurture children, whether at the playground or as a high school student. She was interested in the academy because of the beauty of the campus, the progressive education and the founding tenets of the Sisters of the Holy Names.

Her love of the ocean was another draw.

"I thought it would be a great opportunity," said Devrnja, whose son, R.J., 26, lives in Knoxville.

Jennings has sailed the Atlantic coast and backpacked around the world with her family - husband Rob and son Tyler, 24.

She was born in St. Petersburg, and as a child she played teacher to a make-believe classroom and roller-skated through the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club in St. Petersburg, where her father was hotel manager.

Jennings attended boarding schools in Vermont and Florida. She studied at single-gender schools, where she "found my voice," before transferring to Boston College and earning a bachelor's in English. She has a master's in educational leadership from the University of South Florida.

She served as head of the lower division at Shorecrest Prep in St. Petersburg before coming to the academy.

"I felt it was poised for something great," Jennings said.

She hopes to focus on keeping pace with technology, such as incorporating social networking in the classroom, as well as expanding collaboration and promoting an open-door policy between administrators and students, beginning by removing the blinds from her office door.

"The seeds for everything are here," said Jennings, who replaces temporary Principal Kris Kant, now serving as assistant principal.

Jennings said her background gives her a nice balance of tradition and progress.

That is exactly what the academy represents, said Jacqueline Landry, the school's president and chief executive.

"We have a rich heritage with a progressive vision, traditional but a little edgy, and I think that's a good thing," Landry said.

ACADEMY FACTS

WHAT: Academy of the Holy Names, a Catholic school with students from 26 parishes and non-Catholic students. The school was founded in 1881 in downtown and moved to South Tampa in 1929

WHERE: 3319 Bayshore Blvd.

ENROLLMENT: 350 in all-girl, high school division; 520 in co-ed elementary division

ANNUAL TUITION: $13,660 for grades nine through 12, $11,670 for grades five through eight and $10,990 for prekindergarten through fourth grade.

CONTACT: (813) 839-5371 or www.holynamestpa.org

Reporter Jamie Pilarczyk can be reached at (813) 259-7661 or jpilarczyk@tampatrib.com.

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