The Case of the Missing Principal

On Sept. 3 St. Philip Neri Principal Richard Hill mysteriously went missing leaving several items askew in his office. What was the school to do?

Soon, Brittany Bright’s classes at St. Philip Neri were on the case. They took matters into their own hands and started an investigation into the “principal-napping”.

“The student detectives looked for clues in Principal Hill’s office, interrogated and fingerprinted faculty and staff and created a missing person and wanted posters,” Bright said. “We had 44 detectives (22 from each fifth-grade class) working on this and I combined several curriculums to help solve the case – English, science, reading and civics tools were utilized in some way.”

According to Crystal Vaccaro, St. Philip business manager, the principal-napping idea was born from a list of ideas and activities, posted in the break room, that are designed to engage students throughout the school year.

“We thought this would be great idea to involve the whole school in a fun activity and found a teacher that was interested in spearheading the project,” she said. “Most importantly, the timing was perfect because the principal was going out of town at the beginning of September so that gave us a perfect window of opportunity, especially since he rarely takes time away.”

Bright got the ball rolling by asking her class if they noticed Principal Hill was out on Sept. 3 and prompting them to find out what was going on. Everyone on campus got in on the case, both priests (Father Andrew Rudman, pastor and Father James Martin, parochial vicar), mentioned during Mass that Principal Hill was missing and asked if anyone had seen him.

The first day after he was found missing, the students created hand-made missing person posters and put them around the school. As a side note, the faculty did let the students know he wasn’t actually a victim of a crime and was out of town so they wouldn’t worry but were encouraged to treat this activity as an active case.

“Students were able to use their writing and editing skills to create the posters and get a buzz going around campus,” Bright said. “Students also taped off the principal’s office with caution tape and conducted a thorough investigation gathering evidence and interviewing suspects.”

Student Addison Tabony, part of the investigation team, said they found clues in the principal’s office that included a men’s club brochure, prayer book, hat, gum and red umbrella on floor.

“We took the clues we found in the office and pieced things together,” said Sadie Hernandez, student detective. “We were in groups and had folders with interviews and evidence and worked as a team to figure out who the principal-napper was.”

All of the teachers cooperated with the interview process with only a few “lawyering up” and one showing a little bit of hesitation when answering questions.

“It was interesting to hear the different places the students thought he could be,” Bright said. “Some thought he could be stuck on the slide on the playground or under a table in the cafeteria.”

Rewards were offered for the safe return of Mr. Hill that included a bag of gold, five fist bumps, $2 billion and $67 million.

“We even had Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto contact us to let us know that he had a vacant jail cell if we needed it after we captured the principal-napper,” Vaccaro said.

During the one-week period that Principal Hill was missing, he did send a “proof of life” video to the school to let everyone know he was O.K., he didn’t know where he was, how he got there, or who put him in the closet and thanked the students for looking for him and helping him get back to St. Philip.

Thanks to the exhausted efforts of the fifth-grade detectives, the case was solved, and Mr. Hill was returned to the school. It turns out the perp was Liz Matherne, second grade teacher. The students began suspecting her when she started parking in his parking place and was nervous answering the questions.

“The clues came together, Ms. Matherne’s favorite color is red, she makes the men’s club flyers and she likes garlic bread which explains the gum wrappers on the floor of the office,” said Brendan Corso. “She said she did it because she thought he needed a break and sent him to Los Angeles for a vacation.”

“It was really amazing, teachers had this idea, and it coincided with me going out of town,” Hill said. “Besides everything the kids did and the academic pursuits, as a school leader it was nice to see the kids talking and working so hard as a team. This was a great way to start a new school year; it brought the school together.”