What I have seen and heard: 1/27/23

Memo from the Head of School

Catholic Schools Week 2023

Looking forward to celebrating the Eucharist with you and our young scholars at the 10 AM Mass at St. Phillip Church to launch Catholic Schools week 2023.

In preparation for Catholic Schools Week 2023, I thought it appropriate to discuss who we are as a Catholic school and what exactly it is that we are celebrating about All Saints Catholic School.

The staff and parents of the ASCS scholars share the responsibility to form young people in a true vision of the world. That vision is given in Christ, who reveals God to us while also revealing us to ourselves. The responsibility to this vision does not excuse us from educating the students in the arts and sciences, or from preparing our students for college and meaningful work. Instead, ASCS is even more responsible for these things precisely because we are responsible to the vision given in Christ.

An All Saints education seeks nothing short of human flourishing. In sum, ASCS exists to educate the whole person and to provide an education that contemplates the full meaning of the human person and the ultimate meaning of the world as God’s creation.

ASCS is not a necessity; but rather, it is a gift. A gift, as parents and staff accept the responsibility bestowed upon them, which is the responsibility to claim the vision of the world revealed in Christ and to form young people in that vision. The Church herself is the custodian of this vision, while its schools are one of its greatest means for witnessing this vision, especially for the sake of the young. In the years and decades to come, this vision will be more countercultural and more needed than ever — not just for the good of Catholics and their young, but, indeed, for humanity. That is why the service that ASCS school renders is not for its students alone; its service is rendered through and beyond its students in proclaiming to the world what it means to be human.

ASCS never has been, nor is it now, nor will it ever be the Church’s primary means for forming young people in the greater Norwalk community. The majority of Catholic young people in our surrounding communities always have been educated outside of Catholic schools. The future of the Church in the Diocese of Bridgeport does not depend on the success of ASCS. But ASCS can assume a focused and specific leadership role in evangelization and revitalization of our Church.

At ASCS we can and will set the standard for what a human and humane education is. In so doing, they will not only form men and women according to a fundamentally true vision of the world, but we will also offer a prophetic witness as to what it means to educate the whole human person.

The witness of a Catholic education at All Saints is manifested in our curriculum. It unites the full array of liberal arts with the sciences. The rigor of intellectual engagement is how the ASCS staff challenges the students to move past the easy choices of sectarianism and secularism and engage instead in both faith that thinks and reason that prays. This witness is evident in how we form our students to consider and care for the well-being of others, because of the conviction that the God who created each of us demands and delights in our responsibility for one another, beginning with the responsibility for the poorest among us.

As we enter Catholic Schools week 2023, we acknowledge that we live in a time when we are quickly losing hold of what it means to be human. The dignity of the unborn, the dignity of the elderly, the dignity of the disabled, the dignity of immigrants, the dignity of the poor, the dignity of man and woman, the dignity of marriage — all these and more have been thrown into crisis not simply through political ideologies but, indeed, through government-sponsored education. Young people are taught to see the world a certain way; they are taught to do science a certain way; they are taught to read texts a certain way, they are taught not “how to think”, but rather “what to think.” and that changes everything.

At ASCS we offer an education founded upon the fundamental claim that the world is created, that God is its creator and that the human being is made in the image and likeness of God. This also changes everything. It means that all knowledge is ultimately complementary and that all human life is invaluable. It means that the most rigorous science demands the most rigorous theology, and vice versa, because the object of an ASCS education is truth itself. It is not good science but bad science that rules out the action of a Creator, just as it is fear rather than faith that argues that belief in a creator invalidates the quests of serious inquiry.

An ASCS education is a bold education, because it is an education about everything, beginning with the claim that everything is created. Christ is the heart of an ASCS education. He reveals who God is while revealing us to ourselves. Nothing truly divine, nothing truly human is absent from him, and therefore nothing truly divine, nothing truly human is outside the bounds of an All Saints Catholic education. That’s its gift that is ASCS and also its responsibility, both of which we are likely to recognize even better 20 years hence.

Catholic Schools Week Events

This week we have many events happening including our school mass, pep rally and talent show. Parents are invited to attend any of these events. You can find the schedule here.

2023-2024 School Year Promises to be the BEST YET!

The 2023-2024 new online Admissions portal is open. The demand for an ASCS seat in a classroom is more than we have ever seen. Our Open House for this Sunday has a great deal of interest at various grade levels. People are discovering the All-Saints difference. Please be sure to return your intent to enroll for next year today. We want to be sure we accommodate each returning family before we open up classroom seats to the new families seeking an All Saints education.

Scholarship Assistance and Re-Enrollment

Once you have returned the intent to enroll form you will want to be sure to apply for tuition assistance from the Bishops Scholarship Fund. Applications for assistance can be filed as of February 1. All applications must be submitted by March 1. If you’d like help completing the application process, please let me know.

Vision for 2023-2024 School Year

You know that we consider all parents to be shareholders in the integral formation of the young scholars. This week I met with myriad parents in grades Pre K -2. Looking forward to meeting with more parents from the grades of 3-7 next week.

Some parents have asked for additional times to meet to discuss 2023-2024 expectations other than the post morning drop off window. While I prefer the in-person encounter, I understand the scheduling pressures on many parents, and we are exploring utilizing technology for additional meetings.

Angel Benefit and Saintly Honors Awards Dinner

Our Angel Benefit and Saintly Honors Awards Dinner is scheduled for April 29th. This week, we held the first Steering Committee Dinner. Eileen D’Andrea is doing a great job leading this effort. As of today the leadership committee consists of: Tanya Small, Nicole Culhane, Janet Mitchell, Colleen Pratt, Deborah Keating, Michele Cihal, Denise Vuoso, Pat Stapleton, Joey Smith and Maurice Redhead.

Honorees include:

Sr. Sally Norcross, pastoral assistant at St. Matthew Church and first vice-principal of ASCS, will receive the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Founders Award – This is the highest and most prestigious award to be given out by ASCS. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton founded Catholic Schools in the United States, so this award each year is given to someone who played a significant role in the founding and/or growth of ASCS.

Holly Dougherty-Lemoine/Bishop’s Scholarship Fund will receive the St. Katherine Drexel Award. St. Katherine is the second American born Saint and the patron saint of philanthropists. This award is given each year to an individual influential in providing or securing philanthropic support of ASCS.

Father Sudhir/Pastor of St. Phillip Church will receive the St. John Neumann Award. St. John Neumann is the patron saint of Catholic education and is given each year to a priest who manifests leadership in the promotion of ASCS and Catholic Education.

Sgt. Sal Calise of the Norwalk Police Department (and ASCS alumni parent), will receive the St. Aloysius Gonzaga Award. St Aloysius is the patron saint and model for servant leadership. This award is given each year to a community leader who manifests the qualities of servant leadership and is committed to improving the quality of life in greater Norwalk.

In addition, the Angel Benefit Dinner will recognize teachers for years of service. This is an opportunity for parents to pay tribute to a teacher who touched their child’s life in a special way. Specifically plan on attending the dinner to honor, pay tribute and extend a debt of gratitude to:

30-Year Service Awards

• Maureen Fahey

• Peggy Farrington

25-Year Service Awards

• Jeanne Fuller

• Pat Stapleton

• Laura Wrinn

20-Year Service Awards

• Kathy Iannazzo

• Rachel Inzitari

15-Year Service Awards

• Beth Cuthbertson

• Eileen D’Andrea

• Al Martins

• Rosa Milo

10-Year Service Awards

• Maurya Brown

• Michele Cihal

• Roseanne Corrente

• Linda Dunn

• Leslie Lombardi

• Margaret Perez

• Joey Smith

• Liz Spezzano

• Katherine Tarzali

• Denise Vuoso

For those parents who may be unable to attend the dinner, there will be a commemorative e-journal providing a place for parents to extend heartfelt gratitude and congratulations.

More to come on all of this soon from Eileen and the Angel Benefit Dinner Committee.

School Culture

How do we know we are building a healthy school culture? Let me share a couple of observations from the week.

This month our virtue was “Kindness” Several days this month the campus was ablaze in blue as members of the ASCS Family wore their “Kindness Squad” shirts and celebrated hundreds of Acts of Kindness completed over the last week.

A first-grade student arrived at school a bit emotional. The mom seemed quite perplexed and was having difficulty calming the young scholar. She walked the child to the first-grade classroom. Mrs. Fuller went into master formator mode and easily calmed the child’s qualms and escorted her into class, but the best moment was when the parent hugged and thanked Mrs. Fuller for loving her child.

A Saintly Whisper

“We shall steer safely through every storm, so long a sour heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast., and our trust fixed on God,” St. Francis de Sales

In Christ:

Steven Virgadamo

Head of School

All Saints Catholic School

139 West Rocks Road,

Norwalk, CT 06851

Phone: 203-416-1638

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