GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP – Bishop Joseph A. Galante presided at Assumption Regional Catholic School’s dedication and blessing ceremony, held on Sept. 5, the first day of classes for the 2007-08 school year.
Parents, teachers, members of the Diocesan Office of Catholic Schools, as well as pastors of the five parishes the school will serve were also present at the ceremony.
“A Catholic school is about imparting wisdom, not just knowledge, but the essence of who we are,” said Bishop Galante in his homily. “With that wisdom comes a certain recognition that we are people for others.”
The new school is situated on 24 acres at the intersection of Pitney and Great Creek roads in Galloway Township, and will serve more than 300 students from five parishes in the area. The sending parishes are St. Nicholas, Egg Harbor; St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Absecon; St. Thomas, Brigantine; St. Peter, Pleasantville; and Assumption, Pomona.
The new school replaces the former Assumption Regional School that was located on the White Horse Pike.
“Today was absolutely a fabulous day, the sense of community that was there was very evident, and we look forward to a great school year,” said Antonia Taylor, principal. After the ceremony, Taylor took Sister Dawn Gear, superintendent of Catholic schools on a tour of the new facility, where they visited every classroom and welcomed every teacher.
“A Catholic school encompasses everything in a person, mind, intellect, spirit and will,” said Bishop Galante.
“This is a great day of joy, but it is also a day of anticipation, because the success of Assumption will be found in your children, the children who go through this school, and the adults they become,” he said.