St的历史. 布里吉德的小说开始于1839年, reportedly the year that the first Catholic mass was said in the home of Bernard Powers "at the Rood in Westbury, on the Hempstead Plains of 皇后区 County.”“布鲁克林教区成立于1853年,是为长岛的三个县服务的, 即, 国王, 皇后区, 和萨福克郡. [Evidently there was no Nassau County at that time.1856年,第一座简单的木结构教堂落成. "The loyal Irish of the Hempstead Plains entrusted their church to the patronage of the amazing Celtic saint, St. 爱尔兰之桥.“牧师. Thomas McGronen, the first permanent resident pastor arrived in 1893. "He at once set to work to better the conditions of his poor mission. Sunday after Sunday he made appeals to the different congregations in Brooklyn and shortly had built a rectory. [1] By 1896, a second church building was completed.
1904年,牧师. 威廉F. 麦金尼斯博士成为牧师. 他的学术品质使他在韦斯特伯里的公民事务中名列前茅, and he was elected President of the Board of Education of the Public Schools which post he held until 1922 when he left Westbury. 1905年,他启动了他的第一个项目,建立了教区大厅和公共图书馆. Dr. 麦金尼斯并没有就此止步,而是立即开始了他的下一个主要任务, the building of our beautiful and magnificent stone church, with its rich stained glass windows and splendid pipe organ."[2]
"Some time after the completion of the new church, the old building was moved across Post Avenue, where it was remodeled to hold eight classrooms. It became the first Parochial School in Westbury. The re-laying of the corner-stone took place in 1915 and classes began for the first time in 1918 after Doctor McGinnis was fortunate in obtaining the assistance of the good Sisters of Notre Dame to conduct the school. 他们的热情和牺牲很快就得到了回报,第一批学生于1921年毕业.
1944年,Fr. 詹姆斯一. 沙利文成为牧师,继续面对不断增长的人口需求. By leaps and bounds the Island developed and brought in countless families within the confines of St. 布里吉特. His zeal and tireless energy saw him converting the Parish Library and Lyceum into classrooms to relieve overcrowding in the school building. In the meantime he was going from door-to-door begging for help from his devoted parishioners to build a new School. First he purchased $100,000 worth of land. However he was transferred to Brooklyn before the dedication. 汤姆斯神父. Code succeeded Father Sullivan as Pastor in September 1954. 从他的到来,代码神父看到他的新任务将是一个伟大的. 他立即开始了不间断的工作,筹集必要的资金来支付大楼的费用, 差不多可以入住了.
The day of Dedication came June 19, 1955. Bishop Kearney [of Brooklyn] came to dedicate the New School. 这座杰出的天主教教育纪念碑由18间教室组成, an auditorium with seating capacity of 900, 厨房餐厅, medical room and the Principal's office. The architect was William Boegel and the builder Frank Droesch & Co. 两家公司, 那些与他们一起建设我们学校的人有理由感到自豪, for the work of their mind and their hand clearly indicates a conscientiousness to have their efforts give to God and to the education of his little ones, 最好的地方. 这座建筑杰作耗资90万美元建成. School accommodations seem to continue the same problem as before, due to the constant influx of new families moving in the parish. The new school opened and classes are continuing in the Parish Hall as an overflow from the new building. 我们仍有数百名儿童无法如我们所愿得到安置."[3]
1955年6月19日也是卡尔广场教堂的奉献日. 自1938年以来,圣. 布里吉德教区在邻近的卡尔广场社区租来的店面里举行弥撒. This will figure into our story later on.
学校于1955年9月8日开学,当时有1020名学生. Every room in the brand new school was filled to capacity and classes were still conducted in two Parish buildings on Post Avenue. There were now 14 Sisters and three lay teachers. St的受欢迎程度. 布里吉德学校继续发展. 10月7日, 1963年,学校破土动工,增加了14间教室, 图书馆, 健康 & 维修办公室和礼堂. The new addition was opened on September 8, 1965. 这是第一次有可能让所有的学生在一个屋檐下注册1人,470.
The years of full enrollment would last about five years. 下降始于20世纪70年代,当时学费开始大幅上涨. 1973年的入学人数下降到990人,有15名非专业教师和10名修女. The decline in Religious Vocations and changes since Vatican II began to show in the numbers of Sisters teaching in Catholic Schools throughout the United States.
在此之前,圣. 布里吉德学校的学生主要是罗马天主教徒,有爱尔兰和意大利血统. 1975年,弗雷德·谢弗(Fred Schaefer)神父成为牧师,这是一个重大的变化. Fr. Schaefer recognized that a change was occurring in a neighborhood within the Parish known as New Cassell. A new wave of immigration was beginning; refugees from the civil war in El Salvador were settling in the area. Fr. 谢弗认为,教会有义务欢迎这些新人加入我们的社区. He also believed that we should educate their children. Fr. 谢弗能够找到资金,使一些拉丁裔儿童能够参加圣. 布里吉特的学校. Civil strife in Haiti resulted in a wave of immigration from that country to the New Cassell neighborhood as well. The tradition of participation in Catholic schooling among the Haitian community continued upon their arrival in the United States. 他们也把自己的孩子送到了圣. 布里吉特的学校. The result was a steady wave of "white flight" that began a fundamental change in the composition of the student body.
Up until this time students attending St. 布里吉特的学校, 在很大程度上, resided in the communities served by the Parish; Westbury, 南韦斯特伯里, 东梅多, 和卡尔广场. 由于入学人数持续下降,学校领导决定招收非天主教学生. This increased the geographic area from where students would come, 包括亨普斯特德, ”, 和罗斯福. 这些社区的学生主要是非裔美国人和非天主教徒. 非天主教学生的比例在20世纪80年代接近25%.
在韦斯特伯里、卡尔广场和南韦斯特伯里,天主教徒人数继续增长. 海地和拉丁美洲天主教徒, many refugees from civil strife and poverty in their homelands, 在新卡塞尔定居, 圣. 布里吉特的教区. In response to the growing Catholic population, the Diocese of Rockville Centre made a decision that would have a negative impact on the finances of St. 布里吉特的教区. 1987年6月17日,卡尔广场教堂被重新命名为希望圣母堂. When the split was made, the contributions to St. 布里吉德教区大幅减少. 事实证明, the people in the newly formed parish contributed a disproportionately high percentage of revenue to St. 布里吉特的教区. St. 布里吉特的教区 has had financial struggles to one degree or another since the split occurred twenty years ago. Financial constraints trickled down into the parish school. 这对当时的校长来说并不罕见, 妹妹Carlann, to go without basic resources for the running of the school.
Declining enrollment in Catholic Schools throughout the Diocese prompted Rockville Centre Bishop John McGann to appoint a committee in 1988 to study elementary schools. 该委员会和报告被称为天主教教育行动委员会(ACCE)。. 1990年,麦克甘主教接受了ACCE的报告,其中提出的重要观点包括:
1989年,Fr. 弗朗西斯X. 盖塔成为圣. 布里吉特的教区. His goals as pastor included stabilizing parish finances and evaluating the long-term viability of the school. A decision was made to make a change in school leadership. Fr. 盖塔雇佣了. Christine Lombardi to begin as principal in September 1991. She had many years of experience in public schools, retiring as an assistant superintendent for pupil personnel services. Fr. 盖塔向学校家长提出了每年10万美元的筹款目标. 父母接受了挑战. He pledged to support the school with an annual subsidy of $215,000, 这个数额比教区根据教区收入制定的指导方针所建议的高出43%. School began with an enrollment of 416 children staffed by 23 lay teachers and 2 School Sisters of Notre Dame. 72年来,圣. 布里吉德没有SSND作为校长. 在那个学年结束时,家长小组达到了他们的筹款目标. Lombardi建议Fr. 盖塔说这所学校“值得拯救”."
The school leadership was aware that regional schools were eligible to apply for Diocesan financial support through a grant program. The process to regionalize the school began. Fr. 弗朗西斯·米杜拉,希望圣母教区的牧师,同意加入圣. 布里吉特的教区 in supporting and sponsoring the school. After approval from the diocese, the school opened in 1995 as St. 布丽吉德/希望圣母地区学校. 学校董事会的组成现在将包括牧师和圣. 布里吉德教区,以及希望圣母教区的牧师和两名成员. The school would also receive an annual subsidy of approximately $70,希望圣母教区捐赠的一万美元.
夫人. Lombardi was now able to apply for a Diocesan Support Grant. 学校获接纳拨款申请,并获授予教区传教会地位, due in large measure to the school's diverse student body. The school would be one of three regional schools that would receive financial support from the Diocese. The original grant was in the amount of $100,000.每年00英镑,为期三年. 数额每年都在变化. The amount for the 2006/2007 school year was $160,000.00.
In her ongoing efforts at school improvement, 夫人. Lombardi initiated the self-study process that would eventually lead to the initial accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.
1996年秋天,奥巴马夫人. 隆巴迪宣布她打算在学年结束时退休. 一个由家长、教师和神职人员组成的遴选委员会成立了. They recommended, and the Diocese approved, the appointment of the school's assistant principal, Mr. Paul Clagnaz as principal beginning September 1997.
在接下来的五年里,学校的入学人数每年都有适度的增长, reaching 513 students in September 2001. The most vivid memories of 2001 were the events of September 11th. 这是一个美丽的夏末早晨. 我们开始明白, 一点一点地, 双子塔发生了什么, 五角大楼, and the field in Pennsylvania as the morning wore on. At first we thought it was a terrible accident, 然后当第二座塔被撞的时候, 我们意识到这是一次恐怖袭击. Our main priority that day was making sure all of our students had a safe place to go home to that evening. 我们的很多父母都在曼哈顿工作,还有几位就在双子塔里. Sadly our school lost the father of two young girls that day. As the nation was going through this tumultuous time, stories were breaking in Boston that would have shake the American Catholic Church to it's very foundation. The Boston Globe exposed a pattern of priest sex abuse and cover-ups by the institutional church that allegedly involved Cardinal Bernard F. 法律. By December of 2002 cases of abuse and cover-up came to light in Catholic Dioceses from coast to coast and border to border. 在我们自己的罗克维尔中心教区,有40多名牧师受到指控. 威廉主教. Murphy was also caught in the storm for the role he allegedly played in abuse cases while a high level diocesan official in Boston. 教会领袖仍未完全摆脱对其领导的信心危机. 尽管获得了巨额的经济赔偿,但受害者的痛苦和苦难仍然没有减轻, most recently out of the Dioceses of Los Angeles and Rockville Centre.
巧合的是, 2002 also marked the beginning of enrollment declines at our school and in many others in the Diocese. Concerned with declining enrollments and financial pressures, 威廉·墨菲主教和学校主管乔安妮·卡拉汉修女, appointed a committee to work with a consultant in order to study the issues facing the elementary schools and to make recommendations to Bishop Murphy. 天主教小学学习委员会于2004年1月成立.
The Committee created survey instruments that were sent to pastors, parents of students currently attending Catholic Schools, parents of former Catholic School students, and parents of children attending Parish Religious Education programs. The survey results indicated that there was general consensus that Catholic elementary schools were of value to the Church and community. The main concerns that parents brought up was affordability, 和公立学校相比, the lack of programs for special needs and gifted children, 以及天主教中学的学术和课外活动.
研究委员会提出了主教接受的几项建议, among them the formation of a Diocesan Education Commission that would deal with developing curricula and educational programs, 明天的希望基金会将为奖学金筹集资金, 技术开发, and emergency repairs when 健康 and safety was at risk. The Foundation and Commission were formed in March 2005. 我们的现任校长. Clagnaz was asked to serve on the Elementary School Study Committee, and sits on the board of the Tomorrow's Hope Foundation.
The Tomorrow's Hope Scholarship program is need based. In the 2007-2008 school year (the second year of the program) over $1.500万英镑已承诺为整个教区的儿童提供部分奖学金. 参加圣餐的家庭. 布丽吉德/希望圣母地区学校 have been awarded $90,000.00 in tuition assistance for the upcoming school year. 新教区的倡议, especially the tuition assistance program, 给了我们对未来的希望吗.
1. St. 布里吉德的百年期刊(Westbury, NY: 1956), 18-28.
2. 如上,29岁.
3. 如上,32-33.