The sun broke through an overcast sky yesterday during the third “Hail Mary.”
It was an emotional moment for the students, faculty, staff, parents, alumni, former teachers, parishioners and clergy who gathered around the statue of St. Isidore outside the Marcy Avenue school to celebrate the saint’s feast day as a school community for the last time.
It’s an annual ritual at St. Isidore School, which opened its doors as a parish school in 1962. The school is closing next month by order of the Diocese of Rockville Centre. It is being consolidated with Our Lady of Mercy Regional School in Cutchogue to form a new school, St. John Paul II Regional School. The new school will open in September in St. Isidore’s facilities.
The statue of the patron saint of farmers and laborers will remain in place, the Rev. Robert Kuznik, pastor of St. Isidore’s parish, said. An image of St. John Paul II will adorn the glass over the school’s front door, he said.
Yesterday morning, standing around the statue under threatening skies, students read aloud a short biography of Isidore, a Spanish farmworker born in Madrid in the late 11th century, who was known for his piety, simple life and love of prayer. He died May 15, 1130 and since his canonization as a saint in 1622, the date is celebrated by Catholics as his feast day.
The St. Isidore school community placed their donations of food at the base of the statue. Father Kuznik blessed the offerings, to be donated to the parish food pantry.
After prayers and a reading from the Book of Psalms, those gathered outside the school together prayed a decade of the rosary, reciting in unison the familiar prayers: one Our Father, 10 Hail Marys and one Glory Be to the Father.
The sun came out as they prayed, like a message from the farmer-saint for whom Polish immigrant farmers named the Society of St. Isidore in 1895. The society founded the Roman Catholic parish of St. Isidore in 1903.
Many of the adults had tears in their eyes as the prayers concluded and the group recited the Pledge of Allegiance and sang “This Land is Your Land.”
Principal Helen Livingston, who in 2014 became the school’s first lay principal, invited the guests at the service into the building for refreshments.
The school’s faculty and staff face an uncertain future. They have been invited to apply for positions at St. John Paul II — and many have.
The diocese is currently interviewing candidates for principal of the new school. Livingston did not apply for the job.
“I’m seeking a position elsewhere, at another Catholic school,” she said yesterday.
Some of the school’s teachers have been there for many years — decades. Math teacher Nancy Ryan started at St. Isidore’s in 1981.
“It’s always been a wonderful school,” Ryan said yesterday.
She has seen a lot of changes in the 37 years she’s taught there. Ryan points to new technology as one of the biggest areas of change. The school has had smart boards in every classroom, including pre-K and the library, for at least 15 years, she said.
It’s a very supportive environment for teachers and students alike, the teacher said.
Guests who entered the school after the service reminisced with a few retired nuns who attended. They admired the newly painted cream-colored walls of the corridors, painted by two St. Isidore’s alumni, Gabe Kent and Anthony Bitalvo, for their Eagle Scout projects.
“It’s bittersweet,” Kuznik said. The diocesan education director said the diocese hopes to make St. John Paul II a model for Catholic schools, the priest said. “I hope the diocese will do all the necessary things to make it a success,” Kuznik said.
The new school will be a regional school for four parishes. It already has 140 students enrolled. St. Isidore’s enrollment is currently 133, Livingston said.
The real estate and building will remain property of St. Isidore’s church, Kuznik said.
The announcement by the Diocese of Rockville Centre in March that the East End elementary schools would be closed and consolidated and that McGann-Mercy High School would close stunned the community. Parents and alumni are working to establish a Catholic high school on the McGann-Mercy Riverhead campus. Whether those efforts bear fruit depends to a large extent on the bishop of the diocese, who must grant permission in order for the group to move forward. See prior story.
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Denise Civiletti
Editor’s note: The author is a 1971 graduate of St. Isidore School.
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