Immaculate Heart of Mary School Welcomes St. Charles' 8th Grade

The Immaculate Heart of Mary school community in Kensington welcomed the eighth-grade students from St. Charles Borromeo, Brooklyn Heights, for a day (March 1) centered on Jesus’ prayer in John’s Gospel, “…That they may be one.”

ALL TOGETHER NOW: Students from Immaculate Heart of Mary School made their new eighth-grade classmates from St. Charles Borromeo feel right at home with a day of prayer and

social activities.

For the first time in diocesan history, a parish school was forced to close mid-year and join a new school, with only four months left of the academic semester. St. Charles Borromeo, due to a recent early morning fire, was too severely damaged for repair and reopening.

Since several students had already made the transition into Immaculate Heart of Mary, many teachers wanted to be especially sensitive to the 15 incoming eighth- graders.

“Eighth grade can provide many challenges to the average 14-year- old,” Ted Frank, eighth-grade teacher at Immaculate Heart of Mary, said. “There is the anticipation of graduation, hurdles of state tests, anxiety of state tests and high school acceptances, as well as the exuberance of being the ‘senior’ class in the school.

“We can all remember a sense of confidence just being in ‘the eighth grade.’ It was important that we acknowledge these realities as we began to prepare for the arrival of the new students, particularly their class.”

A Day Together

So, under careful and inspired direction, the St. Charles Borromeo and Immaculate Heart of Mary eighth-grade students met for the first time. Led by Sister Mary Ann Ambrose, CSJ, a pastoral minister at Immaculate Heart, the students participated in a number of icebreaker activities, prayer services, community projects and a pizza party.

According to the students, the most popular of all exercises was learning to work as a team – to help each other stand. “The energy was pervasive,” Frank said.

Taylor Boyce stated, “It’s different than St. Charles. The rules are different but I have new friends.”

In sharing his concerns about finding a new school, Michael de Lisser told those at Immaculate Heart of Mary, what was at first fear of not being accepted has turned into just the opposite.

“The new teachers, principal and IHM students are warming up to me… I think I will have a good half year at Immaculate Heart of Mary School,” he said.

Frank said that March 1 “will be memorable for the laughter, the smiles, and the welcome.”

On March 2, the school began a new chapter when two eighth grades became one. A new teacher, Michael Kinney, has joined the faculty and new students walk the halls.

“A spirit of welcome remains the hallmark of Immaculate Heart of Mary School,” Frank concluded.