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By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer
DECATUR—On opening day at St. Peter Claver Regional School,
students and faculty were positive as they greeted old friends or looked
forward to making new ones in a larger school community from a variety of
parishes.
As they sang “If You’re Happy and You Know It,” the
students clapped with exuberance at an assembly. This was the first day of
school, after all, and their contagiously joy-filled principal, Queen Grady,
was the one leading them in song. It was hard not to express elation.
The first day, Sept. 4, went without a hitch for the most part for
the student body of 247. There were, of course, opening day kinks, such as
figuring out carpool lines and the transportation situation, but, according to
the principal, things ran smoothly.
“It was really a wonderful day,” Grady said. “So
many parents came in here and were just so sweet. They knew that they were
bringing their child to a loving, nurturing, learning environment. They entered
the doors with big smiling faces.”
The regionalization of Sts. Peter and Paul Parish School, Decatur,
and renaming of it as St. Peter Claver School, came about last spring. At the
same time, St. Anthony and Our Lady of Lourdes schools in Atlanta closed. But
aside from the opening day presence of the news media, whose trucks were parked
outside the school, the school community tried to look ahead.
“The people who are here are those who chose to be here and
that’s the bottom line,” said Lesa Atkins, assistant principal at St.
Peter Claver, who served as lead teacher at St. Anthony’s School for four
years. “They are happy to be here.”
In early April Archbishop John F. Donoghue announced that the
archdiocese would no longer fund Our Lady of Lourdes, a pre-kindergarten
through sixth-grade school, or St. Anthony’s, a pre-kindergarten through
eighth-grade school. At the same time, it was announced that Sts. Peter and
Paul Parish School would become a regional school and would be improved in
staffing, curriculum and facilities by the archdiocese. Current students from
St. Anthony’s and Our Lady of Lourdes schools were automatically admitted
if they applied by April 30.
Of the 247 students enrolled at St. Peter Claver on opening day,
18 are former Our Lady of Lourdes students and 29 are former St. Anthony’s
students, Grady said. The rest of the student body is made up of Sts. Peter and
Paul students and brand new students. There are a few spaces still available in
the school, which serves pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
Last year Sts. Peter and Paul School had about 143 students, so
regionalization has allowed the community to enlarge by more than 100.
While a parish school is an outreach of one parish and serves
first the needs of its own children, a regional school serves multiple parishes
in a wider geographical area and is run not by the parish but by the
archdiocesan Department of Catholic Education.
Archdiocesan representatives, including Donald Sasso, Secretary
for Education, and Judith Mucheck, superintendent of schools, were at St. Peter
Claver on the opening day and provided lunches of Blimpie sandwiches and all
the trimmings.
“I was very impressed with the positive energy that was very
evident on our first day of school at St. Peter Claver Regional Catholic
School,” Sasso said. “The school staff did a fantastic job in
preparing for the arrival of students and the opening day went very smoothly. I
especially enjoyed the opportunity to serve lunch to the students and to see
them interacting so happily together having come from three distinct former
schools and now embracing their new school identity.”
Hoping to encourage unity at St. Peter Claver and to put into
action their year-long theme of “team building,” Grady brought the
students, who only attended a half day of school on the first day, into Sts.
Peter and Paul Church, which is connected to the school. Wearing St. Peter
Claver T-shirts provided by the Department of Catholic Education, the students
sang and applauded the teachers and administrators. Grady said later that she
hopes the St. Peter Claver community will “claim ownership of their
school.”
“We want to establish team building among the staff, between
the students and among the parents,” she said. “If we can activate
that good feeling of belonging, then that will encourage everyone to put forth
that extra effort. That’s what I’m so excited about.”
In establishing the regional school, the archdiocese committed to
improving the facilities, the staffing and the curriculum. The first phase of
construction is completed, which included a computer lab, a science lab, a
media center, a religious education room and a resource room. Restrooms were
renovated and new water fountains added. The office was also expanded, along
with the school clinic area, and new technology was added. Phase two will
include the building of a new gymnasium. That construction is now not expected
to begin until 2002, according to George Barrie, president of Catholic
Construction Services.
New positions this year include that of the assistant principal,
resource teacher, guidance counselor, development director, technologist and
full-time coordinator of religious education.
As she dismissed the students row by row to the lunchroom, Grady
told them that they were “the best kids in the whole, wide world, because
you are St. Peter Claver students.”
“You have been wonderful today. You make us very proud,”
she told the students. “Thank you for being a St. Peter Claver
student.”
As she followed the students, she said, “This is it, this is
the first day—the day we’ve been waiting for.”
Many of the students had also been anxiously awaiting their first
day at St. Peter Claver School. A bus that picked students up from Our Lady of
Lourdes and St. Anthony’s arrived on time without problems. Though some
students said they miss their former schools, most are looking forward to the
year.
Eighth-grader Michael Moorman said although he wishes he was
“still at St. Anthony’s,” he thinks he will like St. Peter
Claver.
“I think I’m going to have fun and meet a lot of new
friends,” he said.
Summer Frost, a seventh-grader who is also a former St.
Anthony’s student, said that she was nervous to be in a “new
environment with new people all around” her, but after a
“get-to-know-you game” she felt better.
“I think this is going to be a good year because I get the
chance to start over and make new friends,” she said. “It’s just
a fresh start.”
Frantz Destin, an eighth-grader who transferred this year from New
York to Georgia, said that he was glad that he wasn’t the only new
student.
“The people here are very friendly and very welcoming,”
he said. “I think I’d feel lonely if I was the only (new) one, but
the people are nice and I get along with them.”
Juline Vilfort, a Sts. Peter and Paul student last year, said that
it is exciting to see the school expanding.
“It’s so beautiful seeing the new faces,” she said.
“It just makes our school community even better.”
As an eighth-grader, Vilfort takes being a role model very
seriously.
“It’s a big responsibility,” she said. “Ever
since I was in the third grade, I couldn’t wait to get to the eighth
grade. I have cousins who are in first grade and third grade and I know they
look up to me, so I try my best to set a good example.”
As the luncheon wound down and the carpool line grew, parents
began filtering in to pick up their children. One mother, picking up a young
girl and a young boy, said, “Well, how was it?” The children
responded, each one trying to out yell the other, “It was fun! My teacher
is nice! Mommy, look what we made today!”
Over 40 students take the bus each day, getting on and off at
either Howell Park, located adjacent to St. Anthony’s Church, or at the
Martin Luther King Jr. Center located across the street from Our Lady of
Lourdes Church.
Grady said that the school has been blessed with an “awesome
staff.”
“They are truly nurturing and truly dedicated educators who
are willing to put forth that extra effort to make a difference,” she
said. “They believe that this is not just a job. It’s a
ministry.”
When asked her predictions for the forthcoming year, Grady is
confident.
“We are going to soar,” she said. “We are going to
excel.” |
