Last Friday afternoon I drove to St. Mary of the Angels School to drop off my monthly donation check from American Courier Service when I overheard the latest gossip from several of the mothers who were in the hallways. They were voicing their concerns over the departure of our beloved Principal Joseph Accardi. Apparently a large number of families are seriously considering sending their children to different schools next year. The numbers are staggering. One mother whose daughter is in fourth grade told me, “nearly ninety families might be pulling their kids out of St. Mary of the Angels at the end of this school year.”
Whoever made the decision not to offer Joseph Accardi a new contract must have considered the potential consequences. Personally, I do not have children enrolled at St. Mary of the Angels and so my most sincere opinion on this matter has not been impetuously formed. It is my opinion that as an ongoing contributor to St. Mary of the Angels School that I must question the school’s decision-makers. How have they prepared to deal with the possibility of losing nearly ninety students in a short period of time? Furthermore, I cannot help but wonder how my modest monetary support can truly make a real difference if the school loses so many students so quickly.
I must confess, when I first heard of the latest scuttlebutt about the departure of Joseph Accardi, I was extremely upset about the situation. It is very sad when people we love leave us for any reason. I phoned Mr. Accardi and asked him why he is leaving. After our long but beautiful phone conversation I realized that the reason was the work of the Lord. We might not understand the reason, we might not like the reason, though we must understand that sometimes things change beyond our control. This is how life has worked from the beginning of time. After looking at the entire picture, I started to realize that we must not compromise the children’s excellent education and their valuable relationships with their teachers and the other students simply because of our issues with life’s never ending change.
