St. Alexander is a school you don’t find everywhere. I’ve looked.

Nora Connelly O'Hara, Class of 1985

 St. Alexander is a school you don’t find everywhere.  I’ve looked.  I’ve searched in Rhode Island, Virginia, Maryland, Florida, and California—everywhere the Navy has sent me.  It is rare to find such a wonderful, tightly knit, local parish like St. A’s.  Nowhere else have I found a Catholic school or parish of such quality and so dedicated to the words and works of Christ.  But why should this matter now to a community with other, apparently favorable, Catholic school options?  Why do I think St. Alexander School is worth keeping open?

St. A’s families are a community.  Every morning for the past year, I have longed for a sense of community like St. A’s.  In Virginia Beach, a bustling community of 500,000, there were only four Catholic school options.  I had to drive 10 miles to bring my first grader to the closest Catholic school.  Sure, I knew some of the other parents in the school, and the teachers were friendly, but I never—except for an occasional play date—saw them outside the school environment.  There was no one within walking distance.  School was simply school. 

St. A’s families share the same neighborhood.  We all know that location matters.  Consider your points of reference from your childhood:  your street, your friends, your parish, and your school.  Ask your kids where they’re from, you’ll likely hear, “St. A’s.”  These points of reference situate all of us in a busy, changing world, and they help us understand who we are and where we come from.  To be from St. A’s tells us:  we are Catholic; we are from Villa Park; we are of a special community; and we represent a commitment to excellence.  St. A’s families recognize that grade school is the building block not only of an education, but it is the foundation of faith.

St. A’s families value the whole person.  St. A’s kids are not one-dimensional: not just students and not just athletes.  With a St. A’s education, they are developed morally, mentally, and physically.  As such, St. A’s students are the lifeblood of the parish.  They are the altar servers, the youth group, the track team, and the kids who shovel your snow.  Their activity and their energy enriches our lives, bring us together, and fill us with hope.  In our students, we see the future of the Catholic Church.

St. A’s families make a difference.  Graduates go back, and they give back.  Parishioners invest themselves—they really do give their time, talent, and treasure--and it develops the very best kind of wealth for their children and generations to come.  Our graduates have gone on to succeed in many pursuits of life, but more importantly, many have returned to St. A’s to pass on the torch of service, citizenship, and faith. 

All St. A’s families need the school to survive.  Every family in St. Alexander’s Parish should work to keep their school open.  For this we know:  once a parish loses its school, the vibrancy of a great parish fades.  That lifeblood is lost.  Without its school, St. A’s may remain a good church, but we all will have lost a bit of ourselves, and our parish’s future will have been compromised.  As the single greatest investment in the future of the parish, St. Alexander Catholic School is absolutely necessary to keep our parish a living, thriving Catholic community.

Nora Connelly O’Hara is a 1985 graduate of St. Alexander School.  After graduating from St. Ignatius College Prep and the United States Naval Academy, she served as an officer in the United States Navy for ten years.  As a Naval Flight Officer, she flew jets from aircraft carriers and served as an Admiral’s Aide.  She is married to Michael O’Hara of St. Margaret Mary parish (Chicago) and is now the proud mother of four children whom she longs to send to a Catholic school like St. A’s.

Comments

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[Raphael Garcia]

let us all fight for what we love. Saint Alexanders the home of memories that dwell in our hearts. Please lets not let Saint Alexanders go down. This community, this neighborhood, each individual has looked upon St. A's as being the home we all love so please don't let St. A's close and risk the experience of what it's like to be a knight to be forgotten for generations to come.