14 years ago, when we moved into this neighborhood, I felt such relief knowing there was a catholic school one minute away from the house. As was when I grew up, school was walking distance, and in the neighborhood. It was one of the big selling points to our house purchase. The year my girls started there, Allison was in 2nd grade, and Alena was in Kindergarten. I went on to have three more children attend there, however one needed special services, and had to be placed at a different school. Today, this very last full day left at this wonderful school, I have a 7th grader, a 3rd grader and a 1st grader. My oldest graduated from there last year. Needless to say, my kids have grown up in this school. They are known there…they are not “just another student”.
I have grown as well. I would have never believed that I would make such great friendships during the time my kids have been at this school. I hesitate to call it a school…because it is so much more than that. It is like a family get together, of sorts. Every day.
I have become very close with several people there. I have had a whole parish help me out when our family was going through a time where help was needed, and others stepped up to fill the gap. Some drove my daughter to school, and several brought dinners to our home. It was amazing. I feel so close to these people…the moms. Nothing can describe the family atmosphere between us moms, and the kids.
We are losing more than a school. We are losing a community. I realize that a lot of the families are going to the same school next year, but unfortunately we are not. I will miss the kids being able to walk to and from school. I will miss going to the schoolyard to play, and finding friends there. I will miss always having somebody to talk to while I wait to pick up kids. I will miss Mrs. Zambo. I will miss the closeness of all the teachers knowing who my kids are, and knowing that I am their mother. I will miss all the class functions. I will miss the sports. I will miss all the parties that took place in the Fr. Keaney Center. I will miss getting hugs from the other moms. I will miss feeling comfortable in a room full of people, because I know who they are. I will miss the birthday parties with the kids friends. I will miss having my child walk to a friends house after school. I will miss so many things. Like I said, we are losing way more than just a school.
This is the part where I get on my soap box. So stop reading if you don’t want to read my personal opinions.
I am SO mad that this is happening. I am SO mad and so sad. I find it apauling that the catholic church…with all the money they have, allows this to happen. I feel they are more interested in money, than teaching the catholic faith to our children. The future adults. To save a buck, they consolidate these schools, only to end up closing them in a few years anyway. If they would spend less money defending pedophiles, and more time trying to get our children the education we so want for them. WE WANT OUR CHILDREN TO BE RAISED IN THE CATHOLIC faith! We crave it, we struggle to support it, we mean business. But the cost to do so is astonishing. The big wigs have made it so expensive to get this education, that so many have had to leave the schools, due to the inability to pay. This is disgusting to me.
When we would take our kids on field trips to the Rigali Center, or other catholic headquarter kinds of places, you would be walking on marble flooring, and seeing all the elaborate décor. Why can’t they be of meager means, so that the money not spent on marble statues could be used to lower tuition? I WANT my children to go to a faith based school. I am sure, that if they made school affordable, especially in the city, more and more people would go to a catholic school. In the city, there really is no other option than catholic school, or the public school that is unaccredited. It’s not fair. That is why, in my opinion, when the charter schools opened, they pulled all the kids from the catholic schools. Because they are free, and they aren’t public school. Imagine if tuition was low enough for all to afford, how many people of faith would flock to a catholic school. I think a lot would.
I am saddened to the point of being sick, knowing that the building that stands as a school, this very last day, will soon be a building of nothing. The school is what made this area a neighborhood. At least in my opinion. After tomorrow, I will no longer have that circle of support that is my school family. After tomorrow, my kids friends, that they have had all their lives, will move on to another school…. That is a stabbing feeling in my heart. After tomorrow, I will probably never see Mrs. Zambo again. As if you can’t tell…I really do love Mrs. Zambo. After tomorrow, life as my family has known it to be for the last 14 years, will change forever.
And that makes me sad.
And that’s all I have to say about that.
I will miss you my IHM homies. Thank you for always being there for me. I love you all.
