St. Isidore’s School has graduated its last class.
The 55-year-old Catholic elementary school, which will close its doors on June 22, bid farewell to the the Class of 2018 at its final graduation ceremony Friday evening at St. Isidore’s Church.
The ceremony followed a Mass offered by St. Isidore pastor, the Rev. Robert Kuznik, attended by graduates, students, family members, alumni and parishioners.
The Class of 2018, like recent graduating classes in recent years at a school struggling with declining enrollment, was small — just eight students. Their bonds — with each other, with their teachers and staff, and with the students in the classes behind them — were obviously strong.
Valedictorian JD Campisi spoke to and about each of his teachers and classmates, as well as principal Helen Anne Livingston and the parish priests, with obvious affection and respect — highlighting something positive about each person and a special memory he said the graduates would carry with them for the rest of their lives.
He expressed gratitude for a principal “who taught us to take responsibility for our choices,” and priests “for making us feel closer to God.”
Addressing the school’s teachers, JD said: “We learned so much from all of you. We will always be thankful. You challenged us to become not only better students, but to become better people.”
The valedictorian made reference to the teachers’ uncertain future.The Diocese of Rockville Centre has laid off all teachers and staff at the school — some of whom have worked there for decades. The school’s teachers and staff have been invited to apply for jobs at the new regional elementary school the diocese will open at the site in September.
“Any school would be lucky to have them. They should do anything they can to not let them go,” JD said, drawing loud applause of appreciation from the audience.
The school’s final principal — and its first lay principal, who took the helm inAugust 2014 — grew emotional as she spoke to the graduates, their families and the school’s faculty.
“Ever since we heard the news in March, I’ve been struggling to think of what to say to you on this day,” Livingston said.
She spoke of the importance of a Catholic education to the families who choose to send their children to a Catholic school — their desire to incorporate Catholic thinking into a child’s education, “an influence on how someone thinks about the world and how they react to it,” she said.
“The light of faith illuminates knowledge,” in Catholic schools, “which offer regular religious instruction, daily prayer, frequent celebrations of the liturgy and social justice,” Livingston said.
“The closing next week ends 55 years of serving Catholic families,” she said.
Citing the Book of Ecclesiastes, Livingston told her students, faculty and the school community gathered in the church, “There is a time for everything.”
RiverheadLOCAL photos by Denise Civiletti
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