After roughly two months at Malvern, new Head of School Fr. Don Reilly, O.S.A. has experienced a few similarities and some significant differences to his previous position.

On Friday, September 1, Head of School Fr. Donald Reilly O.S.A. stood on the sidelines of a high school football game supporting his Augustinian school against another Augustinian school. He had been here before, a year ago, except this time, he was on the other sideline.

Fr. Reilly joined the Malvern community this year after being the President of St. Augustine Prep for five years.

Coincidentally, Malvern’s first football game of the year came against Fr. Reilly’s former school.

“The game against St. Augustine’s was a little strange for me,” Reilly said. “I was standing behind the Malvern bench supporting the team, and when I looked over at the other sideline, I knew everybody there.”

Reilly said that he eventually felt safe to walk over to the other side of the field once Malvern built up a strong enough lead. “I didn’t want to jinx my current team,” he said.

This year’s game had many similarities to last year’s game, but it also had a number of differences too. St. Augustine Prep is a very similar school to Malvern. It is an all-boys, Catholic Augustinian school that shares the same values of truth, unity, and love. In his first two months at Malvern, Fr. Reilly said that he has noticed these similarities as well as some differences.

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“It’s one thing to have a working relationship. It’s quite another to understand another level of knowing about a person,”Reilly said. “It helps with conversation and it changes the environment.”
-Fr. Don Reilly, O.S.A.

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“I am noticing that the students down there [St. Augustine Prep] are very similar to the students that are here [Malvern]. If you’re honest with them, they’ll be very honest with you. I respect that students at both schools are who they are, and don’t fall into the trap of being marginalized,” Reilly said.

Although these similarities have made the transition easier, there are still some differences between schools that have made Fr. Reilly want to take a small step back and observe what is happening in the school community.

“I am the eighth member of the leadership team. The other members are helping me understand the place, so the learning curve is really manageable because of the leadership team,” Reilly said.

Fr. Reilly also said that it is strange for him not knowing many people that are on campus and that he has tried to get to know members of the community better.

Before students arrived to campus on the first day of school in August, Fr. Reilly was already hard at work. Over the summer, he tried to get to know each board member on a personal level by sitting down with them for a breakfast or lunch.

“It’s one thing to have a working relationship. It’s quite another to understand another level of knowing about a person,” Reilly said. “It helps with conversation and it changes the environment. It enables me to bring board members into the culture.”

Reilly said that he has met with other significant members of the Malvern community and of the communities surrounding campus. He said that he has met with the Malvern Chief of Police, the director of the Malvern Retreat House, and four other Inter-Ac Heads of School.

Reilly has also set a goal to get to know the students at Malvern better. Reilly said that he welcomed students in the carpool line each morning for the first week of school and has opened his schedule on Fridays to meet with students and get to know them better.

“Any student or faculty member is welcome to sign up,” Reilly said. “I am able to listen and learn about anything they want to talk with me about.”

These interactions with the surrounding community have not only helped Malvern learn more about Fr. Reilly, but have helped Fr. Reilly learn more about Malvern.

“What I’ve learned from all of these meetings was that people truly love Malvern. It has had its highs and lows, but there’s an abiding fidelity to it and I feel like I am catching it,” Reilly said. “Now that I live here and see people who love it, I feel pretty good and am happy to be a part of it.”