St. Ann Catholic School
& Neighborhood Youth Center

Rene' Corders
Principal

Les/Pattie Griffin
Youth Center Director 
 

St. Ann Catholic School & Neighborhood Youth Center is a culturally diverse educational institution that serves the entire community by promoting excellence in education, personal growth and service to others in a nurturing, Christian environment. We achieve this through innovative programs taught by dedicated professionals and volunteers, supported by active community partnerships.

Go to the www.stanncatholicschool.org for more information.

St. Ann School: tradition and transition

By Father Tom Malloy
Pastor

For fifty years, our St. Ann School has carried on the proud tradition of Catholic education. It has been recognized as an asset to the parish and the community. We hope to maintain and enrich that tradition for the next fifty years, at least.

Our school has experienced many transitions. Opened during the days of segregation, it first aimed at serving the needs of the black community, as St. Patrick School served the white. From the beginning, however, both races mingled at the school, making it one of the first integrated schools in North Carolina – if not the first.

The school opened on September 4, 1956, with the Sisters of Providence as teachers and staff. In 1972, the Daughters of Charity, along with lay teachers, took over the ministry of the school. Since its beginning the school has profited from the ministry of Religious Sisters.

Taking not a bit away from the contribution of the lay staff, it must be admitted, that we have been blessed by the presence of the sisters, a presence that has become so rare in recent times.

The Daughters of Charity – established in America by St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who started the Catholic Schools in the United States – have been excellent teachers and administrators. St. Ann School: tradition and transition Their Community has given of its personnel, but also has contributed by financially supporting tuition assistance for those who needed it. Sister JoAnne Goecke saw a need for the children of the surrounding community and stared the Neighborhood Youth Center for tutoring them in a safe environment.

It is with deep regret, then, that the leadership of the Daughters of Charity has found it necessary to withdraw the Sisters from St. Ann School. Such is the case in this time of dwindling religious vocations. The last years for the Sisters will be the 2006 –2007 school year.
This decision does not come unexpectedly.

Over the past two years, Sister Margaret Mary and others persuaded the Daughters’ leadership to allow the Sisters to remain until after our school’s fiftieth anniversary. That has given time to make some preparations for the transition. A school board has been re-established and a strategic plan is being developed. A search committee will soon begin the task of finding a new principal. This transition comes at a time when enrollment has dropped and finances are very tight. Hopefully, this is only a temporary situation. There is every good reason to trust that our school will continue to serve the community’s educational and spiritual needs.

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