Many students may see him in the hallway everyday by the theater or the Point, yet many do not realize the work he does behind the scenes to keep Marist afloat. Unlike teachers or coaches, Patrick Ryan’s contributions can often go unnoticed by students, but they have a huge impact on the school. Everything from lunch accounts, to school schedules, and more is overseen by Ryan. 

“I am in charge of managing the student information system, Skyward, the learning management system, Canvas, and school messenger, which is how we do texts and all calls,” said Ryan. “I also program Mealtime for the cafeteria, Scoir, the new college and career platform, and lastly, I am in charge of getting every student into the billing platform for tuition called Facts.”

Perhaps the most crucial aspect of his role is manually creating the schedule for everybody in the school, as well as designing and publishing the entire course guide by himself. 

“I have to build the master schedule to ensure 98-99 percent of students get their first choice courses,” said Ryan. “The scheduling part of my job takes about 6 months.”  

Ryan is a 2001 Marist graduate, and he returned to his alma mater in August,2008 and has now begun his 18th year of working at the school. He first joined the staff as a college counselor.

“After grad school I was working full time in student affairs at Illinois State University,” said Ryan. “After one year of doing that, I missed my family and wanted to move back to the Chicagoland area, so I applied for a job at Marist.” 

His time at Marist has steadily evolved, with him working as a college counselor for six years, guidance counselor for seven years, and he is currently the head of the social services department.

“My favorite job here at Marist was being a guidance counselor,” said Ryan. “I wanted a change coming out of Covid, and there was an opening in my current role. Mr. Tucker and Mrs. Dunneback gave me an opportunity to fill the shoes of my predecessor.”

A typical day for Ryan starts early in the morning with him arriving at school around 7 a.m. He checks his email early, often, and tries to get down to the point by 7:45 a.m. to greet students before the school day. 

“I try to build time into my day to interact with some of the students,” said Ryan. “If I am not intentional about that I could sit in my office and only interact with adults for the entire day.” 

Almost every hour Ryan is scheduled for a meeting, but when that isn’t the case, he is checking his emails, making sure things are functioning smoothly and not running into any problems. 

“I am either responding to emails about people who are having issues with one of the many platforms I run or I am working with the student services department about different issues,” said Ryan.

To students who have worked with Ryan directly through work study or have seen him stay late after school for their games, his impact is clear. They have seen firsthand how much time and energy he puts into Marist. 

“What stands out most about Mr. Ryan is how friendly he is,” said senior Gabe Beltran. “He’s the kind of person you can go to with any question, and he will always welcome you with a smile.”

Outside of school, Ryan likes to hang out with his seven nieces and nephews, whether it’s watching his oldest niece’s sporting events or running around with the little ones. During his time off of work, he enjoys traveling nationally and internationally. 

“My favorite international destination is Killarney, Ireland,” said Ryan. “I also can not wait for my upcoming trip to Portugal in January.”

While much of his work takes place quietly behind the scenes, Ryan’s influence is felt in every classroom. He is, in many ways, the man that keeps Marist running.