EFFINGHAM — Principal Vicki Wenthe might be new to Sacred Heart School, but she has a lot of company in that area. Due to several recent retirements and an added kindergarten class her staff of 22 individuals includes a new preschool teacher aide, new kindergarten and second grade teachers, a new music and band teacher, a new administrative assistant and a new cook.

In spite of all the staff changes, Wenthe says that she has found the 123-year-old school to be so well-established that so far things have been running very smoothly. “The staff, the students and parents have all been fabulous. You can tell they are really a family. They are a really close-knit group,” she said, adding that the school has 184 students, including the preschool and grades K-8.  

“Sacred Heart is very strong academically and is very faith-based,” she said.  “So I think we’ll just continue with what they’ve been doing here.” She adds that Father Chris Brey and Father Ron Hilt — who both are also fairly new to the Effingham area — have been often present at the school. “We’re really glad to have them both here.”

A strong supporter of using technology in the schools, Wenthe says she is impressed at how well Sacred Heart has done in that department.  “The technology has really been kept up at this school,” she said.  They are now in the process of adding some Chromebooks, she added.

“We’ll also be getting a new roof in a few weeks,” she said. “That will be something new to me — getting a new roof while school is in session.”

Prior to coming to Sacred Heart, Wenthe most recently spent the last 12 school years as principal of St. Thomas the Apostle School in Newton. Before that she spent 11 years as a third- through sixth-grade teacher at Beecher City Grade School in Beecher City. A lifelong resident of the Effingham area, she attended St. Anthony Grade School, was a 1986 graduate of St. Anthony High School and has both her bachelor’s degree and her master’s degree from Eastern Illinois University.

Christy Hakman, who is marketing and development director at Sacred Heart Parish, said of Wenthe, “As someone who was on the principal search committee here at Sacred Heart, we knew immediately that Mrs. Wenthe was going to be a great fit with our staff, students and families. She exudes her Catholic faith, and has a great history of ensuring Catholic identity in her principalship.”  

Wenthe and her husband Brad Wenthe have three grown children — two daughters and one son — and they have recently joined Sacred Heart Parish.