On Wednesday of this week, our school principal, Sr. Marie Blanchette, OP, sent the following message to parents of our school children:
Dear Parents,
I hope you had a wonderful Easter and a relaxing spring break. It is hard to believe that
we only have 6 weeks left of school!
Those of you who know the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, know that our Sisters work
in numerous schools throughout the United States and in a few other countries. One of
the many blessings that comes from this is being able to take the great qualities of the
schools where we have served to the next school that God wants us to serve. I have
enjoyed my 8 years at St. Mary’s, the longest time I have had at any school. I will be
taking so many of the great SMS qualities with me as I begin serving as principal of
Overbrook School this July. Overbrook is an elementary school owned by the Dominican
Sisters and is in Nashville, TN.
It is unusual that I would receive my assignment early. We normally find out around the
first week of May, but the school I have been asked to go to has had an interim principal
since Thanksgiving and the school community is anxious to know who the principal will
be.
While we do not yet know who the new principal of St. Mary’s will be, I can assure you
that she will continue the wonderful things that are happening here. Principal changes
among our Sisters are very smooth because we are like-minded and have the same
educational formation of academic excellence, firmly rooted in the Faith. While each
Sister has her own personality, the values we have are the same. The charted course for
St. Mary’s is the Strategic Plan, which so many of you helped to form through
participation in focus groups and surveys. The School Board and the Principal will make
sure that St. Mary’s moves forward in accomplishing an excellent plan.
St. Mary’s is the 8th school that I have worked in. It is a wonderful place to learn. I wish I
could bottle the relationship the teachers have with the students. Our students are
happy. They recognize the dignity of the human person and strive to respect their
classmates and others. They are not saints yet, but they are saints in the making! I love
how they can tease the faculty and staff and, most of the time, it is appropriate. School
should be a fun place to learn and at St. Mary’s it is. We also have a very dedicated
faculty and staff, who love the children and work hard to help them learn and grow.
Know that I will take each of you with me as I begin a new adventure. Know that you will
remain in my prayers and I look forward to hearing the great things God is doing at St.
Mary’s School!
Sincerely in Christ,
Sister Marie Blanchette, O.P.
