The Tablet . Stories | Diocese of Brooklyn

A Century of Dominican Education at St. Agnes H.S.

By Marie Elena Giossi

Founded in 1908 by the Sisters of St. Dominic, Amityville, St. Agnes Academic H.S., College Point, is marking its centennial anniversary this spring.

In celebration of being “100 Years and Still Young,” the anniversary theme, two major events are planned – a Mass of thanksgiving and dinner at Immaculate Conception Center, Douglaston, April 19, and a dinner-dance Dec. 5 at the Milleridge Cottage, Jericho, L.I.

New blue and white fabric banners on the three-story brick structure and a glossy sign rooted deep in the soil outside the school’s 124th St. entrance are outward indications of the inner jubilee at this intentionally small, college preparatory school for young women in the quaint peninsula community on the north shore of Queens.

Veronica McBreen Photo

Sister Joan Martin, O.P., principal of St. Agnes Academic H.S., College Point, looks at letters students wrote to Pope Benedict XVI, inviting him to the school’s centennial celebration.

“The school is a very special place. We truly feel it’s the best-kept secret in Queens,” says Sister Joan Martin, O.P., principal since 1999.

Special, definitely, but the school is not entirely a secret with a solid enrollment of 400 young women whose blue-collar families invest $6,800 in their daughters’ education per school year. Students commute to school by bus, subway and car from northern and southern Queens’ neighborhoods. The majority are Catholic from a variety of ethnic backgrounds – 52% have European roots and 48% are largely of Hispanic/Caribbean descent, and most come from parochial schools although increasing numbers of public school students are enrolling each fall.

The school is chartered by the University of the State of New York and accredited by the NYS Board of Regents and the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools.

If last year’s graduating class is any indication, bright futures await St. Agnes alumnae. One hundred graduates garnered a total of 56 scholarships and 99% went on to college or a university.

St. Agnes of Yesteryear

Much has changed since 1908 when Sister Mary Petra Wilmer, O.P., the first principal, and Sister Mary Mancini, O.P., the first teacher, responded to the neighborhood’s need to have a Catholic school for young men and women. The Sisters opened a co-educational secondary school in a private home on old College Pl., where they taught about a dozen students who traveled via trolley, ferry and the Long Island Railroad each day.

The following year, academic and commercial courses were offered in a new school building erected on 14th Ave. and the homestead served as a girls’ boarding school and convent. The first graduation was held in 1911 for seven students.

The school strove to meet the changing needs of students, who grew and thrived under the Dominicans. Students learned in well-equipped science labs, read books in the ever-growing library and cheered for classmates on the baseball and basketball teams. The Glee Club sang at the 1939 World’s Fair and students formed the Cardinal Hayes and G. K. Chesterton clubs in 1941.

World War II took its toll as 11 alumni died in service and another 11 earned Gold Stars.

The co-educational school said goodbye to boys in 1948 and changed its charter to that of an all-girls school.

By 1954, the school was proud to have 18 graduates enter religious life. Alumnus Edmund J. Reilly, ’14, became an Auxiliary Bishop of Brooklyn.

Plans began for a new building under Mother Agatha Lannig, O.P., principal, and Bishop Bryan J. McEntegart broke ground in the golden anniversary year of 1958.

By 1960, the present structure on 124th St. north of 14th Ave. opened while construction was in the final stages. English teacher, Sister Alice Grillo, O.P., ’60, remembers, “They were still building the new building around us.”

The old building served as an annex until the late ’90s.

In the latter part of the 20th century, College Point, once largely inhabited by Germans, Italians and Irish, welcomed more Hispanic, Latin American and Asian residents, whose presence continues to be reflected in the student body.

Bishop Francis J. Mugavero celebrated the school’s 75th Anniversary Mass wearing a stole with the colors of the flags of 62 nations, representing the 1983-84 student body.

St. Agnes of Today

While the building held 1,308 students during that diamond jubilee year, the present student body is less than one-third as large.

Classes don’t exceed 30 students, according to Susan Nicoletti, assistant principal, so each young woman receives the individual support she needs to grow into a strong Christian woman.

St. Agnes’ comprehensive education includes academic, religious and physical education courses, honors and advanced placements classes, as well as fine arts and computer studies. Students may also take courses for college credit at St. John’s University or the University at Albany.

Faculty and students alike enjoy hands-on access to the latest technology. LCD projectors enhance classroom learning and teachers will soon implement SMART Board interactive whiteboards.

Every classroom is equipped with a computer but the school’s technological hub is the second-floor library/media center and adjacent computer resource room, where networked, multimedia PCs, connected to color laser printers, run on Windows XP with high-speed Internet.

More than 50 extracurricular activities, sports, and an active relationship with its brother school, Holy Cross H.S., Flushing, keep Agnesites well rounded and connected to their peers and local community.

“Every girl here counts,” Sister Joan said. “We have expectations of them but I think they feel loved.”

She leads a dedicated 43-person staff, including 13 Dominican Sisters, three of whom are alumnae – Sisters Alice Grillo, Eileen Carrig and Kathleen Curtin, and one Sister of Charity, Halifax. Father George Cowan serves as chaplain.

All live by the school’s philosophy: “God who loves us totally, enables us to reach out to all our brothers and sisters in love and service.”

In anticipation of the centennial, Sister Joan commissioned Jack and Renata Olechowski of Ridgewood’s Galahad Studios to create seven stained-glass windows, including one of school patron St. Agnes of Montepulciano, funded by donations from alumnae, parents and benefactors.

As the story of St. Agnes Academic H.S. continues, one thing is certain, “The Sisters of St. Dominic built it, sustain it and will continue to maintain it,” Sister Joan said.

Principals of

St. Agnes Academic H.S.

Mother M. Petra Wilmer, O.P., - 1908-13

Sister Mary Concordia Yoos, O.P., - 1913-25

Mother Mary Dafrose, O.P., - 1925-26

Sister Maria Grau, O.P., - Sept. - Dec. 1926

Mother Agatha Lannig, O.P., - 1926-65

Sister James Celeste Brewi, O.P., - 1965-66

Sister Jean Clare Finnerty, O.P., - 1966-1968

Sister Beatrice Lamb, O.P., - 1968-72

Sister Eileen Mary Nolan, O.P., - 1972-76

Sister Kathleen Waters, O.P., - 1976-87