Just before the doors to St. Ambrose School in Cheverly, Maryland opened Aug. 26 for the first day of school, parents and students congregated in front of the school for pictures, making final adjustments to uniforms, double-checking backpacks and giving last-minutes hugs and good-bye kisses.
Among those arriving at the school was seventh grader Erickson Hernandez, who is starting his second year at the school. “I am happy to be here, and I wanted to come back,” he said.
When the doors opened, students and parents were greeted by faculty and staff wishing them a “happy new year” and a hearty “welcome back.”
Fourth year principal Dr. Philip Robey addressed the students and their parents in a first-day assembly, and led them in a prayer service.
“We belong to Jesus, and want to learn and grow as His disciples,” Robey told the assembled students, parents, faculty and staff. “This is what being in a Catholic school is all about. May our words and actions show we are followers of Jesus.”
He encouraged the students to “open our hearts to welcome Jesus in everyone we meet.”
In thanking God for “our safe return to this place ... (and) for the promise of the days ahead,” Robey led students in praying that God would “expand the horizons of our minds, that we may grow in wisdom, understanding and knowledge.”
He also announced – to great applause from those gathered in the school’s multipurpose room – that air conditioning would be installed there.
“We’re happy to have all of them (the students) back here,” said Father Alejandro Diaz, the pastor of St. Ambrose Parish. “We have been working very hard all summer to prepare for this new school year.”
Robey said he begins the new school year with the assembly because “we gather as a family of believers.” He also noted that parents of students there are “a highly involved group,” many of whom donate more than 30 hours of service to the school each academic year.
The start of this new school year also marked the 75th anniversary of St. Ambrose School.
Among those greeting students was Kelly Branaman, the Secretary for Catholic Schools and Superintendent of Schools for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
“I wanted to be here to help the school kick off its 75th anniversary year,” she said.
“This is my favorite day of the year, and it is wonderful to see all of you this morning,” she told the opening day gathering. Branaman told the students that the theme this year for Catholic schools is “Anchored in Hope.”
“Who gives us that hope? Jesus,” she said. “In Catholic schools, everything we do in anchored in Christ, anchored in hope.”
Remarking on the school’s 75th anniversary, she told the students “you are a part of history” as the school celebrates that milestone.
Even before it was ready for occupancy, St. Ambrose School opened for students in the first through fourth grades in 1950, and was staffed by the Benedictine Sisters of Elizabeth, New Jersey. Students were taught in the auditorium at St. Bernard of Clairvaux School in Riverdale, Maryland until the school was ready in October of that year.
The Benedictine Sisters taught at the school until 1992, and it has been lay administered since then.
In recent years, the school has seen an increase in enrollment and now boasts about 230 students in pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade. Many of the teachers either have children who attended St. Ambrose or are currently enrolled there.
Robey said the student population is “becoming more Catholic” with about 60 percent of pupils coming from nearby parishes, especially St. Ambrose and St. Joseph Parish in Largo, Maryland.
Sue McElroy, a veteran pre-kindergarten teacher at the school, said she shares the students’ first-day excitement.
“Today we will get to know each other, play name games and tour the school,” she explained. “Later in this first week we will learn the rules and how to control our emotions. I look forward to when everyone is settled and in the groove.”
And while students in the lower grades might have eased into their new school year, Robey said that for the other grades “we start right in. We start learning on the first day.”
“St. Ambrose is academic,” he said. “As applications have increased so have our acceptance standards.” He said that students who are admitted into the fourth through eighth grades must have a B average in major subject areas.
Tuesday was not only the first day for St. Ambrose students, but also for Michelle Truss, who is embarking on her first year as assistant principal at the school. She formerly served as principal of the now-closed St. Philip the Apostle School in Camp Spring, Maryland.
She called her new post at St. Ambrose School “amazing” and said she looks forward to “continuing the legacy of helping kids grow not just their minds, but their hearts and their faith.”
“St. Ambrose has been doing this for 75 years, and I am glad to be a part of it,” she said.
