By Gretchen Keiser

When St. Thomas More Catholic School in Decatur was chosen a national “School of Excellence” May 17, some saw the honor as being a victory not only for the school, but for the underdogs battling long odds around the country.

The school of 297 children in kindergarten through eighth grade was the only non-public Georgia elementary school to be chosen for the honor this year, and one of only seven schools in Georgia named. Around the nation 287 “Schools of Excellence” were named by the U.S. Department of Education.

For St. Thomas More, the award was “so needed and overdue,” said Ann Dugan, a computer and special education teacher whose four grown children attended St. Thomas More during their elementary education years.

If schools in other parts of the country could grasp the significance, Mrs. Dugan said, the award “will give a real boost to the little people, to the little schools that would never even think of applying.”

The physical plant of the school, with classrooms in three separate buildings, including over the church sanctuary, is less than ideal. There’s a need for some grades to expand but not the room. In a time of modern and regional schools, St. Thomas More has a quality reminiscent of older Catholic schools, with children in and out of the church building, the adjacent convent, which also houses classrooms, and an annex, and playing basketball and jump rope on the large asphalt parking lot behind the church.

But visitors who came in April to tour the school for two days didn’t see those aspects of St. Thomas More. They were struck, according to the principal, Sister Margaret Mary McKeon, S.N.D., by the dedication of the faculty, the behavior of the children, the quality of the curriculum, and the strong community spirit linking parents, teachers, the principal and the pastor.

“A principal knows that she has a good school,” Sister Margaret Mary said. “I have a faculty that I prize. I have parents who are very cooperative.” The visiting team was “very impressed with our parents,” she said, 30 of whom took time out on working days to come to the school and be interviewed by the team. Father Patrick Mulhern, pastor, has been very supportive of the school and his visible enthusiasm has affected the parish, she said. “He’s doing a fabulous job. I appreciate everything he does.”

“I’m just elated about the award,” said the principal, who has been in charge of St. Thomas More for the last 11 years, and who taught the first grade at St. Thomas More for six years in the 1950s.

Father Mulhern, aided by parents and children, draped a banner above the church doorway May 20: “Thank you God, for our teachers, sisters and school – School of Excellence ’88.”

He attributed the school’s excellence to a quality within the teaching staff communicated to the children. “The teaching staff is extremely unified and the children can perceive this,” he said.

The faculty is made up of five Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, and 17 lay teachers. Longevity is a striking feature. Sister Rita Adele, the fourth grade teacher, has been at the school 14 years and Sister Margaret Thomasine, a former principal in the 1950s and now eighth grade teacher, has been there for 17 years. Sister Rose Lally, who teaches science in the primary grades, has seen generations attend St. Thomas More school.

Even in the office, secretaries Maureen Spann and Mary Shoemaker have worked at St. Thomas More 19 and 18 years respectively, and between them had 13 children attend school there. Mrs. Shoemaker, who has seven grandchildren attending St. Thomas More school, said that her children like the scholastics and the discipline for their own children, even as she appreciated the “moral aspect…in a Catholic school” when she and her husband were putting their children through.

“I was sure we deserved the recognition, but I was kind of surprised in a way” that the award was given to St. Thomas More, Mrs. Shoemaker said. “I think we have a great school and a great faculty. I was real thrilled.”

The application process for the award began last fall, Sister Margaret Mary said, when the school community worked together on a 44-page application. The award recognized the school’s philosophy and goals, comprehensive curriculum, attention to the needs of individual students, strong leadership, relationships among parents, faculty and school community, and the professionalism of the faculty. Signs of student achievement were measured, with particular emphasis this year upon the math and science programs in the elementary schools.

A recently introduced advanced science and advanced math program for qualified eighth graders made an impression on the visiting team, Sister Margaret Mary said. The courses are being offered to eligible seventh graders in future plans. Coincidentally St. Thomas More eighth grade student Jocelyn Shoemaker was a first place winner in the Georgia Science Fair this spring.

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that special Chapter One remedial math and reading teachers could not work on the premises of Catholic schools while being paid with public money, the St. Thomas More Board of Education gave the principal approval to hire Ann Dugan, who has been working with Chapter One funds in the school. Mrs. Dugan, who has been teaching at St. Thomas More for 14 years, said that she has more flexibility now in her computer center, working with children and strengthening their skills.

One parent, Julie Smith, has assisted the school for three years, planning trips for each grade that dovetail with the curriculum, Sister Margaret Mary said. Her volunteer effort, aided by a committee of mothers, saves teachers the work of making travel arrangements and working through red tape for class trips. Another parent is teaching Spanish on a volunteer basis to third and fourth graders, she noted. Others take part in a special elective program for older students, who've learned to cook, play tennis, crochet, or who have been introduced to foreign languages through parent volunteers.

Faculty members are unusually close-knit, keeping a part of the St. Thomas More community even after they leave, those interviewed said. “The money is not important to these people. They want to work in a real Christ-centered community,” Mrs. Dugan said. “It’s a Spirit-filled school. They practice what they preach.”

St. Thomas More teachers for a number of years have taken part as night shelter volunteers at St. Anthony’s night shelter, she noted. “The children are involved with the preparation of food, donating socks, personal things. The teachers prepare the meals.”

Former teachers who have had to move on to other jobs still join the night shelter efforts each year, she said.

The only difficulty, according to the principal, will be deciding who will go to Washington, D.C. next fall to receive the “School of Excellence” award and flag in person.

“They’re all after me,” faculty and parents, she said. “They all want to go to Washington.”