Students welcomed back at Catholic schools throughout the diocese

By Sharon Roulier

SPRINGFIELD – At St. Joan of Arc-St. George School in Chicopee, a school custodian was scrubbing a statue of St. Joan of Arc outside, while new textbooks sat atop desks whose legs sported fuzzy yellow tennis balls to protect the freshly waxed hardwood floors.

With Labor Day signaling the unofficial end to summer, another new academic school year has begun, marked by the opening of the new Holyoke Catholic High School in Chicopee, four new principals and a host of academic and technological advancements.

“We look forward to welcoming students from pre-K through high school,” said Franciscan Sister of St. Joseph M. Andrea Ciszewski, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Springfield.

Sister Ciszewski said one thing has not changed. The mission of Catholic education remains the same. “We are making certain that the Catholic identity is promulgated throughout the academic programs,” she said. “We strive for academic excellence in all areas so that we have that holistic education for our students.”

As the four Catholic high schools and 20 Catholic elementary schools in the diocese welcomed students back from their summer break, new school principals also took their seats at the helms of St. Joan of Arc-St. George School, Our Lady of Hope School in Springfield, St. Mary School in Ware and St. Mary High School in Westfield.

Paula Jenkins, of Whately, will serve as the new principal at St. Joan of Arc-St George School. She previously taught at Holy Trinity School and Mariamante Academy in Greenfield, and also was the principal at St. Michael School in Brattleboro, Vt., and principal of the Sheffield School in Turners Falls and the Pleasant Street School in Athol, Mass. She also worked as an itinerant counselor for elementary schools in the Gill-Montague Regional School District.

Jenkins is a native of Greenfield who attended Holy Trinity School, graduating from Greenfield High School and Elms College in Chicopee. She holds master’s degrees from Westfield State College and Lesley College.

She said that her primary goal as the new administrator of the St. Joan of Arc-St. George School will be to make the transition for new students and parents into the school a positive one.

St. Patrick School in Chicopee closed at the end of the 2007-2008 academic year and many of its former students will now be attending school at St. Joan of Arc-St. George.

“I want to make sure that those children, those families know how much we want them here, how welcome they are,” said Jenkins. “We know they are going to just enrich the school.”

“I am also a big theater person,” said Jenkins who said that exposure to the arts enriches academics.

She said she would like to involve the students as well as the parish community in producing plays. “I intend to send out a plea to the parishioners because I know there’s a lot of talent out there and I’m hoping to get some volunteers to do that,” she said.

Physical signs of progress at the school include brand new textbooks and school supplies as well as some new technology and wiring so that students can produce more complex projects on computers.

Beyond the physical signs are the spiritual ones, filled with prayer, spirituality and service, said Jenkins.

“I want it to be a very welcoming school,” she said. “I think it’s really important that children see that they are a part of the community, particularly for the older students, that they have a responsibility to give back to the community.”

Nelly F. deCarvalho, the new principal of Our Lady of Hope School in Springfield, is a veteran Catholic school educator and administrator who said she already feels embraced and welcomed by the school’s staff and students and is looking forward to a “smooth transition” year.

A native of Northampton, deCarvalho graduated from the former St. Michael Elementary and High schools. She received a bachelor’s degree in English from Elms College in Chicopee. She spent 20 years as a teacher and later a principal at St. Francis Xavier School in Burbank, Calif., returning to the Diocese of Springfield in 2001.

While in California, deCarvalho received a master’s degree in Catholic education from the University of San Francisco.

She has recently served as principal of Holy Name School in Springfield and the former Notre Dame-Immaculate Conception School in Easthampton. In her role as principal at Our Lady of Hope, she said she does not expect to institute too many changes this year.

The school this fall will be undertaking the initial steps toward school re-accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. The two-year process “fosters a real introspective look in your school community and it looks at all aspects of school life, not just in terms of mission and philosophy, but in terms of your curriculum and how the Catholic identity is kept alive in your school,” said deCarvalho.

“Our primary mission is to teach the good news to the young people that we serve, she said. “Whether they’re Catholic or non-Catholic it doesn’t make any difference. The good news is the good news and to model for our young people what it means to be a good Catholic Christian.”

“Hopefully the environment or the culture that you’re going to find here at Our Lady of Hope School is going to be one where the moment you walk into the school you feel a sense of people feeling happy to be here,” she said.

She said that she, like most Catholic school administrators, is faced with the challenges of enrollment and rising costs in education and will continue to strive to help parents consider a Catholic education for their children.

“I think that we as a Catholic community that really wants to invest in the future, which is our children, we really do need to look at this issue more closely and we need to respond to it more proactively,” said deCarvalho. With the costs of utilities rising, the school is also trying to conserve energy and money, she said, by turning one classroom, next to the principal’s office, into a chapel for daily Mass this winter.

“So how graced can we be? Every day we’re going to have Our Lord present with us and then daily communicants who come will come into our school and be a part of our school community, joining us in prayer in that regard, too,” she said.

Nichole D. Nietsche, of Greenfield, said she “truly walked into a great place” when she accepted her position as principal of St. Mary High School in Westfield. This year Nietsche has replaced longtime administrator Paul Romani who retired as principal at the end of the 2007-2008 academic year.

She said as the new principal she is “currently looking to be part of the culture” that has already been established at the 160-student school.

“This is a great place with great bones, great people and things are going well,” she said.

Nietsche brings eight years of experience from St. Bernard High School in Fitchburg, Mass. to her current position. She received her undergraduate degree in English and secondary education as well as a master’s degree in educational leadership and management from Fitchburg State.

One of Nietsche’s goals is to find a route for the high school to be able to offer some advanced placement courses.

Another area of concentration has been in the way of upgrading the facility. A new science lab and classrooms have recently been added. “We are very excited to expand upon the science program that we already have,” she said.

Nietsche said that the environment at St. Mary’s is supportive.

“My personal philosophy of education, especially Catholic education is that you need to be a Christ-centered, student focused environment, and through that you have to provide a challenging and enriching curriculum and hold every student to a standard that you know they can achieve what you’ve set out for them,” she said.

Paula Moran, the new principal of St. Mary School in Ware, grew up as an Air Force child, with her parents eventually settling in Chicopee near Westover Air Force Base.

She graduated from Chicopee Comprehensive High School and Westfield State College.

Since 1974 Moran has lived in Belchertown and has been a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi Parish there, where she has been a longtime religious education teacher and a member of the parish council.

“I am proud to say that I have the Pope Pius X medal from the diocese,” said Moran. The medal is awarded annually to those who have volunteered years of service in their parish religious education programs.

Moran retired in October 2007 from the Springfield Public Schools after 28 years as a school administrator. After hearing about the opening for a principal at St. Mary’s, Moran said she “recalled that my passion is teaching and learning and this would match well with my passion.”

Moran said she is looking forward to her new position at St. Mary’s.

“I will work with the parents. I will work with the students,” she said. “My philosophy is that everything we do is a team effort. I can’t be successful unless we’re all working together for success.”

One of the school’s greatest successes for this academic year has been the institution of a pre-school, which is located in the bottom floor of the parish convent.

Moran said the program for 3- and 4-year-olds can accommodate up to 40 students. “I think it will be a blessed year,” she said. “I know our Lord is going to be watching over us because he came in his Holy Spirit to tell me to do this and to support me in my prayers.”