Originally from Long Island, New York, I am the youngest of four. My older sister, two older brothers and I were born and raised Catholic. I have loved working with children for as long as I remember.  This was largely due to the influence of my family. My parents had always instituted in me the importance of hard work and giving back to the community. Despite a demanding and busy career as a General Contractor on Long Island, my Dad always made time to coach our t-ball teams and pitch in when our local Parish needed renovation or updating. Now 83, he remains active with the Knights of Columbus. My mother took great pride in her role as a homemaker when we were young, often giving up time to teach our weekly religion classes as we were growing up.  Once I was old enough, my mother returned to work for St. Christopher's Otilie, who provided foster care for hundreds of students in the New York area. While doing so, she returned to school in the evening, ultimately receiving her undergraduate and graduate degrees in education. As a result, she was promoted within St. Christopher's and finished her career as an educational advocate. Now retired, she volunteers at our local hospital. Our family just celebrated my parents' 60 year wedding anniversary.

 I met my wife, Kate, in the summer of 2004.  Having a tremendous love for travel, I took advantage of a travel grant that was offered by my school to go to Australia on a sailing and camping trip.  After spending a week on the Great Barrier Reef, I traveled to the far north of Australia, not far from Darwin, to Kakadu National Park.  The camping there was rugged, at times dangerous, and not traveled frequently by most tourists. Who would have thought I would have met my soul mate while camping on the furthest corner of the planet?  As we would later say, I would have had more of a chance marrying a Kangaroo than meeting and eventually marrying someone as amazing as Kate.  

While I thought that I had traveled a great deal in my time, it was nothing compared to Kate.  British by decent, she has traveled the world over, and I would later discover that I would have more of a challenge discovering where she hadn't been than where she had.  By trade, Kate worked for over twenty years as a physical and occupational therapist at a school for students with developmental and physical needs in Southeast England.  Over the years, she expanded that work within a charity called Dreamflight which brings a 747 full of terminally ill children from England to Disney World every year.  Kate is still very active in Dreamflight and plans to return to her participation in the annual trip when we take up residency in Florida.  She grew up in a school very much like Rosarian Academy, loving every moment of her time at St. Joseph's Convent in Berkshire, England.  Her parents were married 58 years before passing into God's hands in recent years.  Kate has given up a great deal over the years to not only drop everything and move to the U.S. but to follow me on this tremendous career path to Florida.  I would never be able to adequately acknowledge or thank her for all that she has done.  

In 2009, Kate and I were blessed with our first son, Thomas.  By 2011, we welcomed Daniel.  Our children are the light of our lives--all that we have ever dreamed of and all that we could ever hope for.  Thomas has inherited his grandfather's instinct to build and "tinker" with things.  He loves nature and often will collect rocks, seashells or bird feathers.  Daniel is also a builder with a wonderfully inquisitive nature and fine sense of humor. Both boys love animals and participated in soccer this year. As a family, we can frequently be found exploring our local zoo or aquarium.  We love the time we spend together as a family. 

Kate, Thomas and Daniel and I are all very excited to be joining the Rosarian family and look forward to the transformative years that lie ahead.

Mr. Rubenacker will be contributing monthly to our e-newsletters until the end of this school year. In the meantime, you can read his blog and find out about some of his work at the Friends Academy by clicking here.

Eighth graders, Erik Parry, Ryan Monroe, Mac Murphy, and Brian Quinlan, volunteered to help children on the autistic spectrum golf and perform other gross motor activities on Friday, January 16 at the Meyer Amphitheater.

"They did such a fabulous job interacting so naturally with children. The parents were absolutely thrilled to see peers volunteering, as it has quite a large impact when children reach children," said Mary Cross Parry, mother of Erik and Jack who is on the spectrum. Jack Parry stood tall as he introduced all of the new volunteers--his brother and his friends.

 The eighth grade boys proudly wore their dress uniforms to this event, representing Rosarian exceptionally well. 

 Mrs. Parry is extremely grateful for how the Rosarian community has embraced her son, Jack, over the years, "As Jack is seen as accepted by intelligent, wonderful Rosarian students in other social settings, it curiously draws others in to meet him. Then they see just how normal, yet uniquely intelligent and hysterical he is...Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Leaving the comfort of Rosarian Academy at the  close of this school year will be especially difficult for me!"

Rosarian Academy eighth grade student, Ella Schrotenboer, was honored as the school's January Kiwanis Club Student of the Month on January 20th. 

Ella was recognized by the Kiwanis Club of Palm Beach for her excellence, character and leadership potential. She was accompanied by her parents and History teacher Mrs. Kathy Moormann at the luncheon. In her acceptance speech, Ella thanks all of her Rosarian teachers for "showing me what hard work can do and for making learning fun."

Congratulations to Mac Murphy (8th grade) and Hope Diffenderfer (6th grade) for being the finalists in the Middle School Spelling Bee that took place on January 23rd.. Mac and Hope went 44 rounds without misspelling a word and were finally declared co-champions for the school-level of the 2015 Scripps Spelling Bee. Mac and Hope will both represent Rosarian at the Regional Spelling Bee on February 24th at The Benjamin School. 

The campus was buzzing with excitement on Sunday, January 25th at Family Fun Day! What a great way to kick-off a Catholic Schools Week with an awesome community event. Everyone had a blast on the new rides and slides. The middle school enjoyed playing basketball or volleyball against their parents, and the lower school students had a blast playing tug of war and participating in sack races. Sno-cones and popcorn were found in every child's hand and even some adults indulged in the treats. The face painter had non-stop action, and the photo booth created lasting memories of this amazing day.

Such a fun family day could only be pulled off with the help of many volunteers. A very special THANK YOU to all the volunteers that worked the event, Nicole & Jason Guari the RAFA Presidents, the entire RAFA Committee and the co-chairs for the event, Lissa Dorsey & Rebecca Vargas. Thank you to the leaders of our organized games and all the faculty staff who made the day possible. Special Thank You to Cathy Reader & Sr. Judy for going above and beyond. Congratulations to the Hardyman family for winning the GoPro Hero4. We couldn't have asked for a better day!
 

Twelve finalists from grades five through eight competed in the school-level competition of the National Geographic Bee on January 28th. Students answered oral questions on geography.The three finalists were eighth graders, Mac Murphy, Joey Rouijel, and Samir Thakkar.Congratulations to Geography Bee winner Samir Thakkar and runner-up Mac Murphy. Samir will now take a written test to try to qualify for the state Bee. Good luck, Samir!

First graders studied the History of the Earth. After learning about the Earth's crust, mantle, outer core, and inner core, the students made the Earth with a jelly donut and an M&M. In this video, students explain this great learning experience.

 

The kindergarten and first grade classroom curriculum was brought to life in a field trip to the Kravis center where the students saw books they have been reading performed on stage. Theatreworks USA performed "Fly Guy and Other Stories," which included: Diary of a Worm, Fluffy the Classroom Guinea Pig, Horace & Morris but Mostly Dolores, Lilly's Big Day, The Paper Bag Princess, and Fly Guy.
 

 Thank you to all of the parents and community members who participated in Rosarian's Career Day on Friday, January 30th. The kindergarten through fourth grades heard from nearly 29 speakers from various professions including Doctors, CEO's, Real Estate Brokers.and FPL executives. The Middle School students heard from 10 speakers--ranging from Graphic Designer, Biological Water Management guru, Non-Profit Director, Scripps Researchers to International Banking and Magazine entrepreneurs. All lower and middle students had the opportunity to be a part of the Sheriff's department presentation, showcasing two horses and a K9 unit. 

 The goal of Career Day is to provide a platform for the students to learn about and explore many different career options and help them understand how they can begin to prepare for those careers at these early stages in their lives. We hope the students saw the significance of their everyday classroom experiences and the impact that yesterday's and today's learning has on helping them pursue tomorrow's dreams.