PATERSON A few select students of St. Gerard Majella School here gather around the intercom microphone in the main office one morning during homeroom, along with their principal, Filippini Sister Jo-Ann Pompa. Together, they lead classes in reciting prayers for their many intentions and singing hymns, such as “Walking Hand in Hand,” and read Scripture passages, filling these pre-k to eighth-grade students with a renewed sense of the Holy Spirit that helps power them through their busy school day.
Daily morning prayer at St. Gerard’s, prepares its students — mostly city residents from diverse ethnic backgrounds — mentally and spiritually for a full class schedule. Each day is filled with first-rate academics that challenge them to achieve excellence; access to the latest technology programs to help them grow in healthy relationships and in leadership; and more faith-centered activities that focus on God’s love and service to others.
St. Gerard’s will celebrate its rich 50-year legacy of “Faith, Knowledge and Service” on Friday, Oct. 16 with a 6 p.m. Mass in St. Gerard Church followed by a catered dinner in the parish’s St. Joseph Center.
“Our students — ‘my shining stars’ — feel loved and find God here. We teach Gospel values and that all things are possible with God. From that, academic excellence follows. They are excited about learning,” said Sister Jo-Ann, St. Gerard’s principal since 2000 and the religious education director of St. Gerard Majella Parish since 2010.
One fifth-grader, Autumn Jackson, called St. Gerard’s, which opens the school year on Wednesday, Sept. 9, her “second home.” She entered in kindergarten as a “shy kid, who didn’t smile or talk.” But over time, she grew more confident socially — and a lot more talkative — as she started making friends.
“The teachers here are enthusiastic. They take care of us,” said Autumn, who noted that her family — which includes three other siblings — previously attended a Christian academy. “St. Gerard’s has made my faith stronger. I love ‘morning prayer’ [where students also recite the school’s mission statement]. I know about Mary and the saints,” she said.
Located at 10 Carrelton Drive near the city’s border with Totowa, St. Gerard’s sparks the faith of students through participation in Masses in St. Gerard Church, including an All Saints Day Mass on Nov. 1, where first-graders dress up as saints and give a presentation on their saint. During Lent, eighth-graders present the Living Stations of the Cross in the church and in the Filippini Sisters’ infirmary in Morristown. Students also raise funds for various causes, including the missions, which has earned them many first-place awards over the years from the Diocesan Mission Office, Sister Jo-Ann said.
One of Autumn’s older sisters, Raven Jackson, will be entering her senior year at Paramus Catholic High School and she credits much of her success there to her academic and spiritual preparation at St. Gerard’s. She has been a member of the National Honor Society and the retreat team at Paramus Catholic.
“I experienced more with my faith at St. Gerard’s. I love Catholicism — the history and the deeper meanings of things. I might want to convert soon,” said Raven Jackson, who along with Autumn, has two other siblings: Orlando, an eighth-grader, and Destin, also alumna and now a Paramus Catholic sophomore.
Students learn to become instruments of God’s peace through St. Gerard’s Conflict Resolution Program, which earned a Best Practice Award from the diocesan School Office. The initiative aims to “remove negative attitudes and behaviors to bring about a positive and peaceful atmosphere in which every child will feel happy and safe.” The program also helps build up students’ self-esteem, their ability to resolve conflicts in a positive manner and, in the older students, their leadership skills as peer mediators, Sister Jo-Ann said.
“Much of St. Gerard’s philosophy is based on Catholic values. Jesus is a big part of that,” said Colleen Cobb, pre-k and kindergarten teacher, who has taught here for 18 years, and who praised the Conflict Resolution Program. “Sister Jo-Ann holds students accountable. They gain empathy — thinking about how their actions can affect other people,” she said.
Throughout the school year, St. Gerard’s also cultivates a “family atmosphere” for students by involving their own families. They come together for International Family Night, the lighting of the Christmas tree and other social and religious events, Sister Jo-Ann said.
St. Gerard’s offers many other state-of-the-art academic programs. They include STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) instruction with hands-on learning that challenges students’ problem-solving abilities. Students will have a new science lab when they come back to school for STEM instruction. The school participated in the N.J. State Department of Education’s Talent 21 Grant, which “established 21st century learning environments in grades six and seven that blend physical and digital infrastructures to seamlessly support learning.” Also students entering grades 4 to 8 participate in the diocesan Extended Learning Opportunity Program, using Study Island, an online study program, which serves as “a bridge program to eliminate skill loss in mathematics during the summer months,” the principal said.
These programs — along with many extracurricular programs — build on the 50-year tradition of academics and spirituality at St. Gerard’s, which opened on Oct. 3, 1965, after the establishment of the parish from being a mission of St. Michael Parish, Paterson, in 1963. Salesian Sisters staffed the school until the arrival of Sister Jo-Ann, its first Filippini principal. Ahead of the start of its anniversary year, St. Gerard’s has been undergoing renovations to the bathrooms in the gym and the reconditioning of the walls in the classrooms, said Sister Jo-Ann, who praised Father Rijo Johnson, pastor, and the other Vocationist priests, who serve here, for their continued support of and presence in the school.
“The teachers here care that you do well and push you to do the best that you can,” said Patricia Tookmanian of the Class of 2001, whose three siblings also were graduates from St. Gerard’s and who teaches special education in the Paterson School District. “St. Gerard’s is small — like a family. That’s why my mom and I love to come back to volunteer here,” she said.
[For information on St. Gerard School or for tickets to the dinner after the 50th anniversary Mass, call
(973) 595-5640. Tickets: $50 per person; $500 for tables of 10.]