By JOHN HOWELL Anna Beaulieu, a junior at Bay View Academy, remembers when St. Kevin School almost closed seven years ago. She was a student at the school then along with 139 others. On Sunday she was back at St. Kevin's with 13 of her alumni giving
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Anna Beaulieu, a junior at Bay View Academy, remembers when St. Kevin School almost closed seven years ago. She was a student at the school then along with 139 others.
On Sunday she was back at St. Kevin’s with 13 of her alumni giving tours of the school that has seen a growth in enrollment every year for the past five years and now serves 246 students from pre-K through 8th grade. Following Sunday’s open house, where 45 families visited the school and 20 students were registered, it will be even bigger next year.
“We do not compete with the public schools. We offer a different product,” says Father Robert Marciano, pastor of St. Kevin Church. Part of that “product” is a faith-based education and a “happy environment,” he adds.
Open houses were also held Sunday at St. Peter and St. Rose of Lima Schools as the kickoff to Catholic School Week here and throughout the state.
While Father Marciano refrains from making comparisons to public schools, listening to the questions of parents Sunday made it clear what’s happening in Warwick schools is why some parents are exploring opportunities in parochial schools.
One mother was concerned for her son who will be a sixth grader moving into Vets Middle School if he stays in the Warwick system. In addition, she was thinking of high school. Bishop Hendricken is on the list and Father Marciano has a strong relationship with Hendricken.
The success of St. Kevin School graduates attending Hendricken was reason enough for another parent, whose son attends another parochial school, to transfer to St. Kevin.
Bill and Michele Russo, who both work for Warwick schools – he teaches at Toll Gate High and she is a school nurse – are looking for a stable environment. With the plan for John Brown Francis School to transition into an early childhood center, they note their children will have moved to three schools by the time they complete middle school.
For Mike and Lisa Underwood, whose daughter Kassidy would be entering pre-K, the appeal is a daylong program as they both work. St. Kevin also offers an after-school program for working parents.
Kindergarten teacher Heather DeCiccio said most parents visiting the school wanted to get a picture of a day’s routine and the school schedule. High on the list, too, is class size. St. Kevin has two kindergarten classes with a maximum of 15 students in each.
DeCiccio is a St. Kevin alumnus. She was a substitute teacher in Warwick schools and jumped at the opportunity to have her own classroom at St. Kevin. John Mederios, whose wife Teri is a member of the Warwick School Committee, has a similar story. He has had a long teaching career and found himself out of a job with downsizing. There wasn’t an opening in Warwick schools but he found a job in Jacksonville, Fla. That required him to move there and limited his visits to Rhode Island to holidays. As it turned out, his Jacksonville job also required him to expand his certification into science. When he learned of a science teaching opening at St. Kevin, he applied on a Tuesday and was hired by Thursday.
Growth is part of the St. Kevin agenda.
With a gift of $50,000 from an unnamed parishioner, the school has equipped a 24-unit computer lab as well as updated computers throughout the school. In the last week, the school also installed a security system with cameras at all exterior doors and covering the playground. The system is interlinked with the phones of principal Roger Parent, Father Marciano and other key personnel, as well as Warwick Police should they need it, so that the school can be monitored.
The school also has the physical space to grow although it is doubtful it will again reach 400 students. At that time, virtually every space in the school was used and classes spilled over into the church hall.
Indeed, St. Kevin School corridors were filled Sunday and the spirit was uplifting.
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richardcorrente
"We do not compete with public schools".
Are you kidding?
Warwick Public Schools has two competitors.
Private schools like St. Kevins and public schools in other cities and towns.
Our student population went from 17,000 to 9,000. Those students had to go somewhere. The School Committee controls $160 million dollars of taxpayers money and has caused a mountain of lawsuits and major health issues, and we still, to this day, have teachers without contracts.
We don't have a Police Committee. We don't have a Fire Department Committee. We don't have a Municipal Employees Committee. Why do we have a School Committee when 98% of all of our problems are in the school department?
Message to the School Committee:
Straighten up your act. Sit with the teachers. Work out a contract. A stable team of teachers will attract students to stay in Warwick, not leave us. Schools like St Kevins wouldn't be growing in popularity if our public school system was in better shape. It is up to the School Committee to get us there.
Happy Spring everyone.
Rick Corrente
The Taxpayers Mayor
Tuesday, January 31, 2017 Report this
Justanidiot
mistor mayer does kids left wit der parents. warwick is losing population and da ones dat are stayin r old farts
Tuesday, January 31, 2017 Report this
richardcorrente
Dear Justanidiot,
Are you referring to you and me?
Rick
Tuesday, January 31, 2017 Report this
Homewardbound
Mr Mayor,
It takes 2 to reach an agreement and the teachers union is proving that is the last thing on their minds. All they want is to take the whole district down.
Wednesday, February 1, 2017 Report this
patientman
Two WPS employee's are moving their children into a private school. I have a friend who is also an employee of WPS that feels the same way. When working class residents that work for the school system are taking their kids out of the public schools you have problems. Good luck
Thursday, February 2, 2017 Report this
Justanidiot
patientman nothing new in this. Teachers and administrators have sent their kids to private schools for years. I had an acquaintance who took a job as a teacher in the WPS just so she could make enough to send her sons to Hendricken.
Friday, February 3, 2017 Report this