Editor's Desk: Old Friends, New Beginnings

By Michael F. Flach
^{HERALD Editor}

Another school year is winding down. Students are growing restless. They can sense that summer vacation is close at hand. Graduation will mark the end of one journey for some, and the promise of a new beginning for others.

For two elementary schools at opposite ends of the diocese, the last few weeks of the 1998 school year will be filled with emotion. Montfort Academy in Fredericksburg will close its doors after 50 years. St. Thomas More School in Arlington will bid farewell to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters who have staffed the school since it opened in 1944.

In 1948, the Congregation of the Daughters of Wisdom were invited to establish an elementary school in Fredericksburg by Richmond Bishop Peter L. Ireton. The Daughters purchased land on Marye’s Heights, an historic Civil War site where two fierce battles were fought 80 years earlier. It was also the site where Sgt. Richard Kirkland, a member of South Carolina’s Volunteers, risked his life in the heat of battle to bring water and solace to wounded Federal soldiers.

Kirkland’s effort was described as "one of the most heroic and humane acts ever to be displayed on a field of battle." The Daughters of Wisdom have strived to follow Kirkland’s example in their ministry and to exemplify the Lord’s command: "Love thy God with all thy heart and thy neighbor as thyself."

The school opened with an enrollment of 103 students. More than 340 students called Montfort home this year. Many of Montfort’s remaining students will attend the new Holy Cross Academy in Stafford next fall. Led by the Oblate Sisters from Philadelphia, they will keep alive the outstanding tradition of Catholic education in the Fredericksburg area — first started by the Daughters of Wisdom 50 years ago.

The I.H.M. Sisters have been a forceful presence in Catholic education in Virginia for 75 years. They first arrived at St. James School in Falls Church in 1923. In October 1944, they opened St. Thomas More School for grades one and two. Rapid expansion followed World War II . Grades one through six were in place by 1945. Grade seven was added in 1946 and grade eight in 1948. The school held its first graduation 50 years ago next month.

Sister Carmel Regina Shields will be the last religious to serve as principal at St. Thomas More. She turns over the keys to Cherie Geide, former principal at St. Andrew the Apostle School in Centreville, who will become St. Thomas More’s first lay principal on July 1.

A new message from the Vatican’s Congregation for Catholic Education should help these two local school communities make the transition. The letter states that the aim of Catholic schools should be, above all, to impart a solid Christian formation.

"The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium" was addressed to those engaged in Catholic education. It said Catholic schools have a dual responsibility to educate and evangelize. Both of these characteristics have been a top priority for the Daughters of Wisdom and the I.H.M. Sisters for more than 50 years.

For students and faculty at St. Thomas More and Montfort Academy, the 1998 school year will end with a touch of sadness. The 1999 school year will mark the beginning of new traditions and new memories as we approach the dawn of a new millennium.— M.F.F.

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