Test of Time
St. Michael Academy has weathered 125 years in midtown
By VINCENT F. IOSUEFor more than 125 years, St. Michael Academy has seen its Chelsea neighborhood thrive during prosperous times, decline into near ruin and enjoy a recent rebirth.
Through it all, the girls high school, located on 33rd Street between Ninth and 10th avenues, never swayed from its mission.
"It basically is to educate young women in a loving and caring manner to lead fully Christian lives," said the principal, Sister Kathleen Cusack, a member of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the congregation that founded the school in 1874. She is one of eight members currently affiliated with the school.
Sister Kathleen pointed out that 99 percent of last year's graduates went on to college.
"I think it's a testimony to what our teachers do," she said. "Many of the teachers are up in their classrooms at 7:30 in the morning, open for any student who wishes to have additional help."
In the school's Wednesday morning Sunrise Tutoring program, which runs from 7:30 to 8:20 a.m., there are eight teachers, each is assigned to a student who needs academic help.
"That's been very successful," she said. "They form a nice relationship, a nice bond with the students, and follow through with that until their graduation."
Student members of Homework Helpers Club, which meets three days a week after school, assist their peers with their studies. Sister Kathleen said that the club not only helps the students who need it, but offers the tutors a bonus.
"I feel it's a training for careers, to try to interest them in teaching," she explained. "They're selected on their knowledge, on their responsibility and on their ability to be able to relate with their peers."
For seniors, there's a job placement program that Sister Kathleen said has been very successful. This year, 61 seniors have been placed in after-school jobs.
Students fill out cards expressing their interests and experience. They are trained in interviewing and resume-writing skills. Donna Karan and Coach Leather are among the companies that request St. Michael's students.
The school offers many sports programs including track, basketball, volleyball, softball, cheerleading and step team. Other extracurricular activities include a student newspaper and poetry, sewing, stencil-making and ambassador clubs.
Sister Kathleen said that about 70 percent of the 427 students participate in after-school activities. Some are unable to participate because of responsibilities at home.
"We're dealing here with a lot of single-parent families, as is the nationwide phenomenon," she said.
St. Michael's opened its doors in 1874, staffed by 12 Presentation Sisters who came to New York from Ireland at the request of Father Arthur J. Donnelly, pastor of St. Michael's, to teach the Irish immigrant children living in the area. The parish was founded in 1857.
The school began as St. Michael's Grammar Schools--one for boys and one for girls--on West 32nd Street and Ninth Avenue. The original church, to which the school was attached, was badly damaged in a fire in 1892. It was restored and rededicated two years later.
In 1904, the Pennsylvania Railroad, looking for a site to build a terminal and depot, offered the parish a new church, school, rectory and convent two blocks north in exchange for the old property. The school moved to its present site between 33rd and 34th streets in 1907.
In 1919 the Presentation Sisters assumed administration of the boys grammar school, which until then had been managed by a priest of the parish.
In 1924, the sisters opened a girls high school with a two-year commercial course, which was expanded in 1926 to a four-year academic and commercial program for girls. A boys commercial course was added as well.
The state Board of Regents granted permission for the establishment of a four-year, co-institutional high school for boys and girls in 1931. The boys section closed in 1947.
In the years to follow, the area around St. Michael's shifted from residential to commercial to industrial, and the elementary school closed in 1971.
But as the parish has adapted to its changing environment, so has the school. The girls who attend the school today come from the five boroughs of New York City, and a handful come from New Jersey.
Msgr. Marc J. Filacchione, pastor of St. Michael's parish, said that the school's "great location"--just a block and a half from Penn Station--has added to its success.
"Penn Station adds a new dimension," he said. "It makes it convenient for everybody."
Msgr. Filacchione, also the coordinator of the archdiocesan Hospital Apostolate, remarked that the Chelsea area has been on the rise. Run-down tenements have been renovated and the old YMCA building on 10th Avenue has been converted into apartments.
Sister Kathleen has seen the change over the years since she graduated from St. Michael's in 1954.
"I have seen a great transition as has the city of New York," she said. "A great change in ethnicity and the racial composite of the city."
She returned to the school as a teacher in 1985 and became principal in 1989, the same year Msgr. Filacchione became pastor.
The current student body is 64 percent Hispanic, 26 percent black, 8 percent white and 2 percent Asian--a big change from Sister Kathleen's class.
"Years ago, we taught the children of the Irish immigrants," she said. "Today, we're teaching the children of many countries."
"But the mission hasn't changed," Msgr. Filacchione added.
Sister Kathleen said she makes sure the girls are greeted in the morning and bid goodbye in the afternoon, which shows them how to be courteous in their interactions.
"This is a very special place for them," she said.
On the technology front, St. Michael's received a donation of 45 computers from Group Health Inc. in 1996. Bankers Trust began replacing the older models last year. Sister Kathleen said that nearly every one of the school's 22 classrooms contains a computer. The school also has a lab equipped with 30 computers.
The school is used by Mercy College for night classes, and Mercy allows St. Michael's to use its lab with 15 Internet-ready computers and a direct hookup to the college library.
The teaching of religion holds a special place at St. Michael's where 87 percent of the girls are Catholic. Aside from their regular classroom studies, the students also attend Mass in the parish church on special occasions such as the opening of the school year, the feast of the school's patron, Thanksgiving and graduation.
The school's small chapel is utilized to teach meditative prayer to sophomores and juniors. Sister Kathleen leads prayer over the loudspeaker to set the tone for each day. She emphasized that all students, no matter their religious background, participate in religion classes and liturgies. "The girls all have a keen sense of reverence and prayer," she said.
St. Michael's has kept the cost of its educational offerings within the reach of its students' families. The annual tuition and fees are $4,050.
Denise Fernandez, a junior, said she chose the school because of the smaller class and "the individual attention you don't always get at larger schools."
"Because there are fewer girls, we all get to know each other," she said. "If not by name, at least by face, I know all the girls in the school. It's more like a family."
Denise, whose commute is 45 minutes from Jackson Heights, Queens, said that despite having to take two trains to school, she finds its location "convenient."
Sophomore Elizabeth Martinez, who also commutes from Jackson Heights, said she chose St. Michael's because "it offers a lot academically."
"It challenges you more to do the best that you can," she said.
When she was struggling in math, she didn't have to look far for help.
"My math teacher was there," Elizabeth said. "She explained everything to me and told me I could come in early."
And the help didn't stop there.
"Students from the school actually took time out to help me in my math," she said, adding that her grades have improved since then.
Denise recommends St. Michael's to her friends.
"It's a great school because it's cozy and it offers a student an excellent education and a family atmosphere involving God," she said.
All in a venerable 125-year tradition.