Meeting the Students of ACND

“God is good.” The opening line of a first address to the Senior Class at Archbishop Curley Notre Dame evoked from a few of the students, the response “All the time.” My echoing of “All the time” was greeted by a knowing and enthusiastic “GOD IS GOOD.”

Having been introduced to the refrain by students from the North East, I was delighted with this manifestation that the universality so evident in the dress, music, grooming and banter of today’s youngsters also carries some of the more positive values of the emerging culture of the global village.

Origins of a Vocation

I am a Christian Brother. The mission entrusted to our Congregation by the Church is that of accompanying children and youth on every continent. It has been my privilege over the years to witness the powerful ways the Lord is present in these youngsters and their unique responses to God’s manifold graces.

Born into a close-knit family grounded in faith, I attended parochial grammar schools in New York City and New Jersey. Just as I reached high school age, the Brothers had ventured across the Hudson River to found Bergen Catholic High School. Their joy-filled engagement in the process of opening to us a greater world helped consolidate my vocation. I join Br. Richard De Maria and Br. Anthony Cavet as the third successive principal of ACND to have come from that school. The Congregation offered each of us a very solid academic and professional preparation for the work to be entrusted to our care.

Missions around the Globe

My assignments have included seven years as a teacher of mathematics and religion, department chairman, and guidance counselor in high schools in Chicago and New Rochelle; fifteen years as a professor of psychology and pastoral counseling and administrator at Iona College, and fifteen years as president of Boys’ Towns of Italy, Inc. and administrator of the Girls’ and Boys’ Towns of Rome.

It has been and continues to be a challenging but ever so rich journey with many side-trips. I have worked with challenged students in Harlem and Westchester, with our young brothers in formation, with our African Brothers in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and with teachers and school leaders in England, Ireland, Italy and Australia. The tracing of families whose sons and daughters had become the refugees of wars, famines, political and economic crises, involved passages across the Adriatic and Mediterranean Seas into the Balkans and North Africa. The Brothers have afforded me time to chronicle these adventures in the popular and professional press. The story that emerges is one of Christ being present to me and to all of us in the children we are privileged to serve.

Hopes for ACND

Time has been kind to me. I pray and ask for prayers for the continued health and energy to fulfill my new responsibilities at ACND. I am working with an outstanding group of co-workers who enthusiastically believe, as has the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Archdiocese of Miami, that ACND is a gem of a school that merits special attention.

As urban centers around the globe struggle with the major issue of all civilizations, the care and formation of the next generation, ACND stands out as a model to be emulated. Here youngsters from the wealthiest and the poorest families of the Miami area, of diverse ethnic backgrounds, and of differing academic ability, participate in the formation of a caring educational community in which they experience themselves as protagonists in the exploration and maturation of their individual gifts and those of their peers. They witness to the eternal truth: God is good.

Ms. Maria P. Diaz

Vice Principal for Academics

I came to ACND twenty years ago to investigate it as a possible high school for my son Jose, Jr. who was then in 8^th grade. My husband, Jose, was set on having him attend his alma-mater, a Jesuit Prep school, but living in Miami Beach, I wanted to look into our local high school where participation in activities, sports and social events would not cause major transportation issues. I had been teaching at St. Patrick’s School for five years and was well aware of the needs of Catholic adolescents. So I came as a part time teacher/spy and spent my afternoons doing graduate work. Needless to say, I liked what I experienced and fell in love with the place that I felt had so much to offer to the academic, spiritual, and social growth of Jose, Jr., the first of my four children to join the ACND Family.

Throughout my 25 years as an educator, I have taken every possible opportunity to learn and implement new ways to engage my students. As an AP Reader and Table Leader, I spend ten days a year in a continuous dialogue with university and high school educators where we share classroom philosophies, trends, expertise, and experiences. These endeavors, along with renewed graduate studies, have helped me prepare for my new responsibilities as Academic Vice Principal.

The ACND community is our most precious asset. It is under the leadership of our faculty that the sense of genuine caring permeates throughout the student body. This caring environment nurtures both our students and faculty. I am blessed to be part of this unique group of professionals for whom giving of themselves and going the extra mile is part of their daily lives.

It is with these dedicated educators, and especially the Area Coordinators that I hope to realize the new challenging interdisciplinary academic goals before us. Our aim is to improve our standardized test scores by aggressive coordinated efforts and to strive for academic excellence in all of our existing programs and those that will be developed.

Ms. Phyllis Duval

Treasurer

My first encounter with Archbishop Curley Notre Dame High School was an appointment with Fr. Gerald McGrath, the Principal, to register my son for the ninth grade. It was June of 1980. As we chatted I told him that the company I have previously worked for had closed and that I wanted to take some time off to look for a more rewarding position with a large company Father offered me a position in the business office with a July 1^st starting date Here I am twenty-four years later, never looking back or regretting my decision to work at the school. The heart and soul of this position are the parents. Keeping the bills paid with money to spare is important. My rewards are many. Good supportive parents have kept me here.

After graduating from High School, I was sent to Business College to study bookkeeping, typing and shorthand and then find a good husband. Men were the bread winners and were given better opportunities.

Thank goodness things have now changed! Although I must admit I did find a good husband. We have two wonderful sons.

Managing my areas of responsibilities is rewarding but sometimes frustrating due to financial limitations. Maintenance of the school is extremely important, not only for cleanliness, but for safety. Good hires are very important. We have fine employees working in this department under the direction of Jose Ramirez. Our main office runs well with the addition of our new secretary, Maria San Pelayo who presents a mature positive image and can handle difficult situations very well. I believe praise-based motivation can boost self- esteem and is a key factor in employee relations.

As a member of the administrative council, I feel the school is heading in a new direction with vigor. We have embarked on a renewed way of thinking and problem-solving.

Mr. Douglas Romanik

Vice Principal of Student Services

My journey at ACND began over twenty years ago when I entered as a lowly freshman back in 1980. I have always believed that the four years I spent hear at ACND prepared me well for life in a global diverse world. The lessons I learned during my tenure at ACND have made me a better person, worker and citizen.

After ACND, I was fortunate to attend Harvard College receiving an undergraduate degree in Economics. I went on to study law at the University of Miami receiving my J.D. degree in 1991.

I practiced law for 5 years and decided to try my hand in the family business. I worked in the family business up until 2005 when my old coach and teacher Mr. Yeash called and asked whether I would like to teach Government for a teacher who was going on a medical leave. It was then I realized that coaching and teaching had always appealed to me and I decided to give teaching a try.

In teaching and coaching I believe I have found what I love to do. In my role as Vice Principal/Dean of Students I believe I can make a difference in the ACND community and the community at large.

It is through the interaction or ACND’s diverse student, teacher and local community that we grow confident and insightful adults ready to take on the challenges in the global community. ACND truly is the “school in the city” ready to welcome the next generation of Catholic leaders who will be ready to bring forth and release the good in others to make a stronger and gentler world.

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