The Changing Face of Fontbonne Hall: Bay Ridge School Installs New Front Entrance

The face of Fontbonne Hall Academy is getting a new look, thanks to the Sisters of St. Joseph.

The congregation of nuns, who run the Bay Ridge School, helped to fund the renovations, hoping to change an almost century-long habit of students entering through the back door.

“It’s a little like using the door at the mud room when you have a front door,” Sister Maria Pascuzzi, director of facilities, said.

Sister Pascuzzi said the feature recalls the building’s glamorous past.

The school installed a new glass door, large storefront windows, and a small garden around their statue of St. Joseph.

“It returns the school to a kind of air of elegance and beauty,” Sister Pascuzzi said.

The building is one of the few Gilded Age mansions left in Brooklyn.

It was built in the 1880s by American businessman, Diamond Jim Brady, who shared it with a big name in Hollywood.

“He had Ms. Lillian Russell, a famous actress,” Sister Pascuzzi said. “And the legend, whether it’s true or not, is that she was here in this house and remained using this house until he died.”

The sisters bought the building in 1937 and decided to turn it into the all-girls school that stands there today.

The renovation is a celebration of the school’s past and as Principal Rocco Gentile explained it, a way to keep this historic building preserved.

“The roof on the auditorium had slate shingles and those shingles,” Gentile said, “some of them were coming loose and posed a potential risk. If the roof wasn’t fixed, the gymnasium floor could be damaged if there was a leak. So we went ahead and made those investments.”

Now as students return to their classes, they have a new sense of school spirit.

“When I first saw it I thought it was beautiful,” Julie Dicapua, student activities president at Fontbonne Hall Academy, said. “It feels like a school entrance and you just feel like, this is home. It all looks new but the spirit is still there.”

Catholic News Headlines for Thursday 09/07/2023

Students at a catholic high school in the Diocese of Brooklyn will soon be stepping back in time.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, according to Deacon Kevin McCormack

A crucifix outside of Sts. Simon and Jude Church has been rededicated.

We’ll have the latest on the beatification of a family of seven from Poland.

Monsignor Cassato: We Are Probably Outshining Public Schools

Students in Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens kicked off their first week of school.

With an influx of migrant children in the city, some are wondering if the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Catholic schools can accommodate them.

Msgr. David Cassato, vicar for schools in the diocese, joins Currents News to answer that question and discuss the progress of Catholic schools in the city.

Ringing in the School Year: Flushing Catholic School Uses Decades-Old Bell

by Katie Vasquez

A bell echoes down 41st Street in Flushing as a reminder for students at St. Michael’s Catholic Academy that a new school year has begun.

“I’m very proud of ringing the bell,” Chloe Lin, a student at the school, said. “Symbolizes the start for the year, fresh start.”

Its chimes have been ringing for decades, St. Michael’s is one of the oldest Catholic schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

It was founded in 1851, but about 100 years into its history, the bell became part of everyday life.

“When the bell started, it was more like an orchestral music went around with it,” Philip Heide, Principal of St. Michael’s Catholic Academy, said. “Nowadays, we play rock ‘n’ roll, but the one thing that has always remained the same is the love at St. Michael’s.”

The world around the school has changed and so has the neighborhood. Flushing is now predominantly Asian and the school boasts the only English/Mandarin dual language program in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Yet the steady toll of the bell has continued for some 60 years.

Regardless of what language they may learn, the sounds are deeply woven into the memory of every student who has passed through these halls.

Alumnus Walter Avelin said the chimes immediately transport him back to when he was a student in the mid 1960s.

“When that bell rang, everyone stopped what they were doing and froze until they got direction,” Avelin said.

Now all these years later, there is the same call to action, but it’s more than just a sound.

“The bell itself is a bell. It rings and you know it does what it needs to do,” Heide said. “What’s tied to the bell, the memory and the love of St. Michael’s that’s what resonates with everyone.”

One the school hopes to keep ringing into the next century.

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday 09/06/2023

It’s the first day of school for students in the Diocese of Brooklyn.

Bishop Robert Brennan greets students at St. Athanasius Catholic Academy in Bensonhurst, on their first day.

The Vicar for Schools, Monsignor David Cassato, sits down with Current News to talk about the goals for the new year– specifically raising test scores.

The Diocese Of Brooklyn is remembering beloved priest, Monsignor Paul Jervis who has passed away at the age of 69.

J’Overt Joy: Catholic Parish Marches in West Indian Day Parade

For revelers at this year’s West Indian Day Parade, the festivities were an opportunity to embrace the culture of the Caribbean islands they descended from.

But for those who are Catholics in the Diocese of Brooklyn, the parade was also an opportunity to celebrate their faith and religion along the Eastern Parkway parade in Crown Heights.

Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated Mass before he and dozens of parishioners from St. Matthew’s Parish joined thousands of others who were in attendance for the celebration, which is in its second year back, since the COVID-19 pandemic had halted the festivities in 2020 and 2021.

“I appreciated the opportunity to be among the people at St. Matthew Catholic Church to celebrate Mass prior to the West Indian Day Parade this morning on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn,” Bishop Brennan said on X, formerly known as Twitter. “As I said at Mass, let’s go forth as God sends us forward, to be a blessing to the world.”

Members of the diocese wore red T-shirts and sang worship music throughout the celebration. They waved the flags of their respective native Caribbean islands as they made their way across the parkway toward Grand Army Plaza in Prospect Park.

Pope Francis’ Visit to Mongolia: Pontiff Embraced by Small Catholic Community

Pope Francis is back at the Vatican after his Labor Day weekend trip to Mongolia.

It’s the latest in the holy father’s efforts to reach out to the peripheries.

Mongolia is home to just three churches and fewer than 1500 Catholics.

During his flight back to Rome, Pope Francis talked about some future trips.

John Allen, the editor of Crux, joins Currents News from St. Peter’s Square to talk about the pope’s trip and future travel plans.

Classroom Coming Together: Our Lady of Sorrows Teacher Sets Up for School Year

By Jessica Easthope

Jessica Jerez knows how important the role of a teacher can be in a child’s life.

She’s a new mom and this year she designed her kindergarten classroom at Our Lady of Sorrows in Corona, Queens, to be a place where she would want her daughter to feel safe, happy and educated.

“This is my first year in this classroom,” Jerez said. “You come in new, you meet the students, you create a bond with them, you’re with them all day, more than they are at home, so for me making the classroom homey and setting the tone in September, it was important to me.”

Soon, 20 four- and five-year-olds will come here every day to learn, but Jerez said she wants her classroom to also be a second home, one she takes pride in and puts her all into.

“It’s important to invest in your classroom, they’re like my children,”Jerez said. “When I decorate the classroom and I look for supplies I try to find things that I know, having a daughter now, I would want my child in this classroom, how can I make this classroom beautiful and welcoming, so they feel comfortable.”

Setting up her classroom this year has been a family affair. For the last month Jerez has brought her husband, their baby, her sister, and sister in-law in to help make it shine.

“I’ve always been a visual learner and I know Jessica has a lot of visual stuff,” Fatima Rosales, Jerez’s sister-in-law, said. “And it’s going to help with the kids a lot.”

The walls, floor, library, and marker boards are all products of their hard work — and of Jerez’s hard-earned money.

“Dollar Tree is my best friend,” Jerez said. “I like to go to garage sales, Facebook Marketplace, Amazon too, when they have deals, but I’m a couponer.”

“I’m always there to help her,” Kevin Rosales, Jerez’s husband, said. “She says ‘Oh, I want this, I want my classroom to be a safe haven for the kids,’” Rosales said. “Whatever it takes I’m always there to support her 100%.”

Not only does Jerez spend her own money on the decorations and colorful items you see in her classroom, but she also does it for learning resources. She said in a school like Our Lady of Sorrows, where 98% of students are undocumented immigrants who speak English as a second language, this can make a big difference.

“My goals are having the students know their numbers 1 to 100 and getting their proficiency in reading, but every child learns differently,” Jerez said. “If I can get one child who wasn’t able to write their name at the beginning of the year, writing their name, I’ll be happy.”

Jerez’s favorite part of her classroom isn’t the most colorful or the biggest but the most meaningful.

“I get these books to teach kids about Jesus at their level,” Jerez said.

She knows no matter what challenges lie ahead she has her faith to guide her, and she’s looking forward to a great year in her new classroom.

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday 09/05/2023

While public schools open on Thursday, Catholic schools in the Diocese of Brooklyn will welcome their students tomorrow.

Catholic school teachers have been getting their classrooms ready for weeks.

On Labor Day parishioners at St. Matthew’s Church took to the streets to dance in the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn.

Pope Francis is back at the Vatican after his four-day trip to Mongolia.

Pope Francis Arrives in Mongolia

The war in Ukraine never ceases to be relevant on papal trips.

During the flight to Mongolia, Pope Francis blessed this canteen pierced by shrapnel from an explosion. The Ukrainian serviceman who was carrying it survived it and to thank God that he is still alive he left this object in a church in Lviv.

Francis exchanged a few brief words with the journalists, about 70 of them.

“Mongolia seems to be never ending and its inhabitants are few,” Pope Francis said. “A small population with great culture.”

After more than 9 hours of flying, the plane landed in Mongolia. From the windows you could see the great steppe. A vast country where there are only a little more than 3 million inhabitants and where Catholics number less than 1,400. This was the destination chosen by Francis for his 43rd international trip and his fourteenth visit to an Asian country.

On the ground he was welcomed with the traditional offering given to guests. The humble aaruul, a traditional product usually made from yak milk and part of the travel provisions. It was very common for Mongolians to carry it on their horseback journeys across the vast steppe.

Mongolia is a strategic land on a political level because it is located between Russia and China. In fact the papal flight passed through Chinese airspace and as is traditional the pontiff wrote a telegram to the authorities to thank them for the gesture.

The 86-year-old Pope is the first in history to visit Mongolia. A five-day trip was desired by the Argentinian Pope whose priority is to visit areas where Catholics are a minority. His visit is an important occasion not only for Christians but also for the whole country.