College Leadership Team
The Leadership Team at Mount Alvernia College consists of the College Principal, Deputy Principal – Student Development and Wellbeing, Deputy Principal – Staff Development and Organisation, Deputy Principal – Teaching and Learning, Deputy Principal – Identity and Religious Life of the College, and the College Business Manager. The team is responsible to the College Board and reports to it via the College Principal.
College Principal
Ms Jensen is an experienced and highly successful Catholic educator and leader. She previously held the position of Deputy Principal, Loreto Mandeville Hall, Toorak. Prior to that Samantha held leadership positions at John Paul College, Brisbane, and Queensbridge School, Birmingham, UK. As a passionate educator, her subject areas have included Ancient History, Visual Arts, Humanities, Philosophy, and Psychology.
Ms Jensen holds a Master of Educational Leadership from the Australian Catholic University as well as a Master of Teaching from the Queensland University of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Queensland. She is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is currently undertaking further post-graduate study in Theology.
Samantha has recently commenced as Deputy Chair of the Catholic Secondary Schoolgirls’ Sports Association in Brisbane. Ms Jensen’s personal faith and proven excellence as a contemporary educational leader is clear and provides a firm foundation for her role as Principal of Mount Alvernia. She brings a strong focus on student achievement and aspiration in learning, as well as demonstrated practical commitment to the environment and the disadvantaged, particularly those from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
Deputy Principal – Student Development and Wellbeing
Ms Kathryn Dendy
Ms Kathryn DendyMs Kathryn Dendy has worked in education for nearly 25 years and for most of this time she has been in a student wellbeing role, which is her passion. An on old girl of Mount Alvernia College, Kathryn initially pursued a career in Journalism when she left school, inspired by her Year 12 English teacher, and after completing a Bachelor of Business Communication (Journalism) she worked as a print Journalist for three years. Following in the footsteps of her parents, Kathryn made the decision to re-train as a teacher and took her first teaching job at a Catholic school in Albury-Wodonga. It was here that her interest in student wellbeing was piqued and she went on to study a Masters of Student Welfare at the University of Melbourne.
Relocating back to Queensland in 2004, Kathryn spent six years in a middle management role at Aquinas College on the Gold Coast and then moved to Saint Stephen’s College to take on the senior leadership position of Dean of Students. Throughout her career, Kathryn has focused on developing the whole student and supporting students to be their very best selves. Having worked in co-educational schools throughout her career, Kathryn is committed now to understanding what makes young women tick, having returned to the community she left many years ago.
Deputy Principal - Staff Development and Organisation
Ms Kerry Jell
Deputy Principal - Teaching and Learning
Ms Kath Little
Ms Kath LittleMs Little holds a Masters in Educational Leadership and has extensive experience as an educational leader across independent and systemic schools in Australia and overseas. She is passionately interested in school improvement and works closely with staff and students to build an academic culture which is improvement seeking. In recent appointments, Ms Little has led the implementation of National Curriculum, the operationalisation of College mergers, and the implementation of Senior School reforms. She also has a background in educational research to ensure pedagogy is high-impact and best practice.
Deputy Principal - Identity and Religious Life of the College
Mr Richard Rogusz
Mr Rogusz has been a teacher in Catholic schools for over twenty-five years, fifteen years of which have been in Middle and Senior leadership positions. He holds a Master of Religious Education (ACU) and, in recent years, has undertaken further post-graduate studies through the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven), and the Australian Catholic University (Rome Campus). Mr Rogusz is passionate about staff and student formation in the Catholic tradition, particularly in the areas of contemporary theology, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander spiritualities, and social justice.
