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St. Cajetan Principal Retiring At End Of School Year

By Howard Ludwig | April 26, 2016 6:26am
 Terry Reger has been principal at St. Cajetan School since 2006. She plans to retire at the end of the school year to spend more time with her granddaughter and travel.
Terry Reger has been principal at St. Cajetan School since 2006. She plans to retire at the end of the school year to spend more time with her granddaughter and travel.
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DNAinfo/Howard A. Ludwig

MORGAN PARK — Terry Reger, the principal at St. Cajetan School, will retire in June.

Reger has led the Catholic elementary school at 2447 W. 112th St. in Morgan Park since 2006. Her career in education spanned 41 years.

"I am really going to miss this place, but I know I'm making a good choice," Reger said Friday.

She plans to spend more time with her 10-month-old granddaughter and travel in retirement. A long-awaited visit to Ireland is already in the works.

Reger graduated from Illinois State University in downstate Normal and immediately went to the Archdiocese of Chicago in search of a job. But nothing was available. So Reger took a job teaching social studies and language arts at Holmes Elementary School in suburban Harvey.

After four years at the public school, she landed a job at Holy Ghost Catholic School in South Holland. She taught seventh- and eighth-grade math there for five years. The suburban school closed in 2004.

"I couldn't wait to get into the Catholic schools," said Reger, who grew up in the St. Thomas More Parish in Ashburn.

It was from Holy Ghost that Reger ended up at St. Michael School in suburban Orland Park in 1984. She worked as a math teacher for a 12 years before earning her master's degree and taking on the role of assistant principal.

She was assistant principal at St. Michael for a decade before coming to St. Cajetan. The school on the Far Southwest Side had 350 students when Reger arrived. Today, enrollment stands at 395, she said.

Reflecting on her first days at St. Cajetan, Reger remembered a bet with the principal at rival St. Linus School in suburban Oak Lawn. The pair agreed that the principal from the school that lost a football game would wear a shirt from the victorious school Monday morning.

The St. Cajetan boys were nervous, as their history against St. Linus wasn't great, Reger said. Nevertheless, the bet remained, and St. Cajetan won by one point.

The Rev. Frank Kurucz, pastor of St. Cajetan, said Reger will be remembered for her dedication to students as well as her work ethic. He also pointed to the school's increased enrollment and improved test scores during her tenure.

"Mrs. Reger will best be remembered for her strong Catholic faith and her dedication to Catholic Education," said Kurucz.

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