The St. Aidan’s School community in Williston Park, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this academic year, will host a gala on Saturday, Jan. 31.
The kindergarten through eighth-grade Catholic school hosted a barbecue in September to kick off the festivities, and will have ce
“These kids are a family, it’s incredible to watch them,” Nora Grady, a parent on the 75th Anniversary Committee, said. “They spend a lot of time together, learning and praying together. I SOMETHING DROPPED that they feel like the school is a home away from home.”
Grady, former president of the St. Aidan’s school board, said the school is very family-oriented and many of the current students are second or third-generation.
“Half of us went to St. Aidens, and now are choosing to send our kids there,” she said, adding that enrollment can sometimes be an uphill battle. “We’re surrounded by really great public school districts, so when people have the option to go for free to a good school, it’s hard sometimes.”
She said that over the years, the school has changed but held onto important traditions. This year St. Aidan’s school has a new principal, Josephine Guidice, and a new pastor, Michael Bissex.
“While we’re reflecting on our path, this is an exciting year for us, having new leadership,” Grady said. “But we’re rooted in history. So many of the teachers have been here for 30 years and have taught parents and their children.”
She said the families of St. Aidan’s alumni have returned to celebrate the milestone.
“In the community we live in, so many of us grow up and end up back here so that we can send our kids to St. Aidan’s,” Grady said. “Things are so different for these kids, but if we can give them this little bubble of an amazing school, it’s special.”
Students at St. Aidan’s are part of a longstanding tradition that includes intergenerational events, according to Grady.
“The grandparent’s Mass kicks off the year — that’s one of my favorite traditions,” Grady said, adding that grandparents are very involved in the daily lives of students. “We also have the Walk-a-thon, and I remember my first Walk-a-thon. You get a T-shirt, and your friends sign it, and the kids still do it today.”
She said one of the treasured traditions each year is the buddy program in which the school pairs an older student with a younger one for shared activities and events.
“My favorite part of St. Aidan School is going to First Friday Mass with my buddy. I’m in sixth grade, and she’s in first grade, and I love sitting with her and helping her during Mass,” said Shae Grady, a student at St. Aidan’s. “I also love celebrating holidays at school and going to fun events because they make school really special.”
“It’s those little things. You watch them from a little three-year-old to a 13-year-old, and they really do become the person that they’re meant to be,” her mother, Nora Grady, said.
