By now you know that for the coming school year, St. Malachy Parish School will be merged into Holy Trinity Parish School to make the new Archangel Gabriel School, shared by the three RocKenRo parishes: Holy Trinity, St. John of God, and St. Malachy. My immediate motive is that St. Malachy School operates at an increasing deficit that neither the parish nor RocKenRo can afford. To save resources for our shared mission, we need to stop the deficit spending.
A few of my trusted councilors advised me simply to close St. Malachy and invite the students there to move to Holy Trinity. People of this reasonable opinion should be respected: Under Kim Stevenson’s leadership, Holy Trinity School has grown stably and successfully.
But we ask how best to undertake our shared mission as RocKenRo, including the mission to aid Christian parents in their God-given responsibility for rearing and educating their children, especially in the Catholic faith. To merge the schools effectively creates a Grouping school and the opportunity to integrate our mission to all our parents who subscribe to it.
Given Holy Trinity School’s success, I plan to locate all K through 8 education at that campus. Because the St. Malachy Pre-School is fully certified, I plan to locate all pre-school there. I make the 8-minute commute daily; I hope parents who chauffeur their children will be able to do so.
Many questions remain: Tuition, fundraising team, uniforms, gym usage, etc. To answer I’ll be relying on advice from my implementation committee: Bonnie Amendola, Charles Baker, Rosemary Corsetti, Linda Gomulka, Julie Loehlein, Joseph Maggi, Amy Maxin, Fr. Alan Morris, and Dr. William Stropkaj. Our first task is to hire a principal for Archangel Gabriel School. Our current principals and outsiders are invited to apply. The principal will hire the new school’s faculty from the current pool of teachers at both schools. If you have special questions or concerns, please convey them in writing to me or a member of the implementation committee.
I hope all current students at Holy Trinity and St. Malachy enter Archangel Gabriel. Enrollments for 2019-20 at either school will be honored at Archangel Gabriel. To parents who judge that Archangel Gabriel is not the best choice for their children, I recommend Northside Catholic Assumption Academy, St. James School, St. Margaret of Scotland School, and St. Philip School.
I proposed the name “Archangel Gabriel” to link the patronal names of the three parishes:
The Archangel Gabriel is “one of the seven holy angels who…enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One” and behold the Holy Trinity (paralleling Raphael per Tobit 12:15).
The Archangel Gabriel makes known God’s plan for the salvation of his people (Daniel 8:16, 9:21; Luke 1:19). St. Malachy is most famous for his analogous gift of prophecy.
The Archangel Gabriel announces the conception of Jesus to the blessed virgin Mary. The principal church of St. John of God Parish is St. Mary, Help of Christians.
The naming of the school coincides with RocKenRo’s desire to commemorate the late Fr. Kenneth Keene. His mother, Alvera Keene, and family graciously agree to donate toward the installation of a large image of the Archangel Gabriel in his memory. May God grant eternal rest to Fr. Ken. Archangel Gabriel, pray for us!
Please remember that Daylight Savings Time begins next Sunday, March 10. Set your clocks forward one hour or you’ll be late for Mass!
Lent begins Ash Wednesday, March 6. Please find your Lenten calendar in this bulletin.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh sets the last Sunday before Lent as the annual appeal for the Parish Share Program, but only St. Malachy Parish traditionally observes this practice. St. Malachy parishioners will therefore receive my appeal. But everyone is asked to note that (1) Parish Share gifts are typically the most effective way to support your parish and (2) funds from Parish Share are never used for the compensation fund for those abused by clergy, nor for related legal expenses.
—Fr. Dave
