On a steamy day late last week, a car with Vermont license plates cruised into town with a petite but powerful woman behind the wheel. Patagonia's new superintendent of schools, Dr. Rose Rooth arrived with not only a van full of Victorian furniture, but also a heart full of expectations for building a model school system in Patagonia.

New Patagonia Schools Superintendent Rose Rooth sits at her desk. Prior to her recent role as superintendent in Springfield, Vt,, she was superintendent of schools for the Cedar Unified District in Keams Canyon, Ariz.

As a veteran teacher, principal and superintendent, Rooth has spent nearly 20 years in education in Arizona schools. Prior to her recent role as superintendent in Springfield, Vt,, she was superintendent of schools for the Cedar Unified District in Keams Canyon, Ariz. She also served as principal at Cedar, Jeddito and Laveen Elementary and as Chapter One Coordinator in Nogales.

She loves to teach and began her early career teaching Spanish at the elementary, high school and community college levels.

After earning her BS and MS in Education and Spanish from Emporia State University, Kansas, she obtained her EdD in Education Administration and Supervision from Arizona State University.

Rooth served on the advisory boards of the Phoenix Public Library and the Phoenix Arts Commission. During her tenure in Springfield, Vt., she served in the Rotary, the River Valley Technical Center Board and the Mentorship Program.

An advocate of family and community, Rooth blends her Latina roots with her philosophy of education that focuses on bring out the best in student achievement by building relationships and a successful model of small personalized learning. "It's all about the teaching. The quality of instruction in the classroom makes a huge difference," said Rooth.

Already achieving the highest rating of "Excelling" by the Arizona Department of Education Arizona School Report Card, Patagonia Union High School also produced higher scores in reading and writing than other high schools in the area including Cienega, Buena and Nogales.

For more information visit the ADE website: http://www.ade.az.gov/srcs/find_school.asp

Patagonia Union High School isrecognized as one of the highest achieving Title I schools in Arizona and was invited to apply for special recognition as a state "Outstanding" school.

Please join us in welcoming Rooth on Saturday, July 21, at Old Main from 10 a.m. - noon.

(Editor's note: Brink is a Patagonia resident.)