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By Erika Anderson, Staff Writer
CUMMING—It was a day full of surprises for the Pinecrest
Academy community as Archbishop John F. Donoghue dedicated the new middle
school classroom building and gymnasium Sept. 17.
Students, parents, faculty, Pinecrest benefactors and other
supporters excitedly made their way into the gymnasium for the dedication
ceremony, which was offered in memory of Brian Tierney, Ph.D., the
school’s headmaster, who died suddenly July 22 at the age of 56. Father
John Hopkins, LC, chairman of the Pinecrest board of directors, said that Dr.
Tierney brought a “very special joy and exuberance” to the school.
“Even though he is not with us today, he will always be with
this school and today we dedicate this ceremony in his honor,” he said.
After an opening prayer offered by Father Timothy Mulcahey, LC,
chaplain of the pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school, Father Hopkins
introduced the archbishop.
“He was and always will be essential to our school,” he
said. “We don’t just seen him as an archbishop, but as a friend, a
role model and most especially as a father.”
Archbishop Donoghue was given a standing ovation as he took the
podium and offered words of gratitude to the community.
“Thank you for inviting me to be with you on this special
day. As time passes, and as the visits I have been able to make mount in
number, I feel more and more, that when I come out here to Forsyth County, I am
truly coming home, or at least to a home away from home,” he said.
“Your hospitality has been generous, and the warmth you have extended to
me has brought great joy into my life.”
Archbishop Donoghue spoke of the significance of the sign located
in front of the school that reads “Pinecrest Academy—A Catholic
School of Excellence.”
“Not ‘an excellent Catholic School’—what
school with such a faculty, such parents and students and volunteers and
boosters could not be excellent? But ‘a Catholic School of
Excellence,’” he said. “The difference is that here at
Pinecrest, we are about teaching the pursuit of excellence—the running of
the race, as St. Paul might have said, with our eyes on the end, on the goal,
on the prize to be attained, and that is no less than the salvation and the
fulfillment of our souls. Not a career, not money, not power—but the
salvation and fulfillment of souls.”
The archbishop then praised the beauty of the new buildings and
the purpose they will serve.
“Today in the character and design of these buildings we are
prepared to bless, that excellence is reflected in architectural splendor. You
would have to look hard and long anywhere in this part of the state, to find
buildings as handsome, as classic, and as inviting to the minds of the young,
and to the propensities of their hearts, as these buildings are,” he said.
“You have constructed something fine—something
beautiful—something excellent. And in these buildings, or perhaps better,
through these buildings, those ideals—beauty and excellence—will now
fill the minds and heart of our children.”
“And in the process, we, the aging and old, will feel better
about what we have done with our own lives, with our own wealth, and about the
direction our own souls are moving in.”
Father Hopkins, gesturing to a plaque covered by a velvet cloth
and wrapped in a ribbon, explained that the building was named to honor a
special friend of Pinecrest. The archbishop seemed surprised and pleased as he
pulled off the ribbon to reveal the plaque reading “Archbishop John F.
Donoghue Middle School Building,” and was greeted by another standing
ovation from the crowd.
As the archbishop processed throughout the buildings to bless them
with holy water, students read letters that they had written to the
school’s benefactors that allowed the completion of the $7.5 million
project.
Letters from students included words such as “I am truly
blessed to be put in this great school with such great facilities. It will be a
great honor to say to my kids ‘I went to Pinecrest Academy.’”
Another student, who had transferred to Pinecrest from out of
state, wrote, “Pinecrest Academy is such a good school. It feels like
Pinecrest is home already. I love Pinecrest Academy a lot.”
The new buildings were added to complement the original facilities
at the school’s 53-acre campus. The new buildings have allowed for
expansion in enrollment. Currently there are 666 students at the school, with a
few open spots in the middle school.
Atlanta architects Collin Cooper Carusi, Inc. designed the new
buildings, which feature a 22,500-square-foot, two-story gymnasium with over
600 bleacher seats and a full-court regulation basketball court.
The three-story classroom building houses 16 classrooms, a media
center, computer lab, science lab and chapel. Atlanta-based Aviation
Constructors, Inc. served as the project’s contractor. Future plans
include Pinecrest High School, scheduled to open in 2003.
Father Hopkins thanked the many people who were instrumental in
the project, including the benefactors, architects, builders, faculty, parents,
students and especially the late headmaster, who was appointed in 1998.
“This is his baby. He is looking down from heaven right now
and he is here with us. So in a very special way I want to say, ‘Dr.
Tierney, thank you so much,’” he said, looking upward.
In the second surprise of the dedication, William Guilfoil, one of
Pinecrest Academy’s co-founders, was announced as the new president of the
school. His position will take effect Oct. 1.
Guilfoil, who has had a 32-year career as an executive with the
IBM Corp., will be responsible for all aspects of the school’s academic
and operational functioning.
After a few words by Guilfoil, who said that Pinecrest had been in
his “heart for many years,” Archbishop Donoghue and Pinecrest and
Forsyth County representatives cut a blue and gold ribbon symbolically pulled
across the gymnasium’s stage.
The new middle school building has allowed for the school’s
goal of gender separation. Boys and girls in grades three through eight are in
separate classes, which, according to Arlene Gannon, director of formation, has
been beneficial for the students.
“There are no distractions,” she said. “They are
able to learn in an environment conducive to their gender.”
Gannon, a co-founder of the school, said that many statistics
point to the benefits of gender separation.
“They have their whole lives to focus on other things and
they have lots of time after school to socialize, but now they should take the
opportunity to focus on their education,” she said. “This is very,
very beneficial.”
Gannon spoke of recent student council election speeches. Boys and
girls elect their own student councils and their own council president.
“It was so wonderful. The girls were talking sincerely from
their hearts to all the girls and the boys were like young gentlemen trying to
win the hearts of the other young men,” she said.
Gannon said that the new buildings have been the culmination of
the dreams of many.
“This is the fruit of a lot of prayer and apostolic
work,” she said.
She said that to name the middle school building after the
archbishop was special for the school.
“We pray for him every single day,” she said. “To
have his name on this building and to have it dedicated to him—it’s
an honor for us.”
The private Catholic school, under the direction of the
Legionaries of Christ, opened in 1993 with 29 students, holding classes in a
former Fulton County elementary school in Crabapple. The school then relocated
to All Saints Church in Dunwoody, where, by the beginning of its fourth year,
enrollment had increased to the facility’s maximum capacity of 153
students in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. In August 1998, the school
began its sixth year and its first on the Cumming campus in a six-building,
16-classroom facility. |
