Sister Kelly Quinn said she always had an inkling that she would be a nun, but she didn’t realize she’d be spending the bulk of her life working in education.
After 30 years as principal of Our Lady of Grace in Manhasset, Quinn said she has found her calling.
Quinn grew up in Binghamton, where she was taught by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, in elementary school.
“I had always known the sisters,” Quinn said. “I just felt called seeing their joy.”
Quinn said her aunt, who was a nun, was another great inspiration for her.
She would go on to study at Marywood University, where the IHM center was based and where IHM sisters once again taught her.
After she graduated, Quinn decided to join the order. “It was just so much a part of my life,” she said, so the decision was simple.
Quinn said she became a teacher at the suggestion of other sisters in her order and attended the College of New Rochelle to obtain her Montessori certification.
Montessori schools use a different approach to traditional education, with mixed-age classrooms, individualized lesson plans, and an emphasis on student engagement—methods developed by the Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori.
Quinn’s first teaching position was at Our Lady of Grace, a Montessori school.
As a teacher, Quinn taught Hilary Lancaster, who is now the President of the IHM League, Our Lady of Grace’s parents’ association, and the mother of two students.
“I knew without a doubt that my kids were gonna go to OLG,” Lancaster said, calling the school’s Montessori method the “perfect blend of structure and guidance.”
As a student, Lancaster said she was chatty in class, and Sister Kelly would approach her with a similar balanced approach. “She could be firm in the way that you need a teacher to be firm, but still gentle and caring.”
After seven years of teaching, Quinn said she decided to train to become a principal because, “I just felt that I wanted to do a little bit more.”
Quinn would study at Marywood again and teach at local Catholic schools that used traditional teaching methods, but, with a gentle laugh, Quinn said, “I kind of made [it] into a Montessori program.”
“I did miss the freedom of the Montessori method. The kids were in desks and rows, [but] we did as much as we could getting the kids involved.”
“It’s hard to switch from this.” Quinn motioned to the building around her and the kids singing in the other room. “Our kids are on the floor or at tables spread throughout the classroom.”
Thirty years ago, Quinn returned to Our Lady of Grace in her new role as principal, meeting countless children over the years.
Many of those children have decided to come back as teachers, like Bailey McBride.
McBride said Quinn would always greet her as she got out of the car for school, and she “always had a big smile, was always silly.”
“I had a very big interest in insects when I was younger,” she said as she recalled one of her earliest memories of Quinn.
“Whenever I would find something on the playground, I would bring it into the class, and Sister Kelly would come and sit down and listen to me talk about the bug I found…She was always such a big supporter of my passions and my interests.”
McBride said Quinn was her role model growing up and the main reason why she became a teacher.
She started teaching at a traditionally structured public school and said she found making young kids sit down inhibited their learning, so she applied for an opening at Our Lady of Grace.
McBride said she was happy to be working with Quinn, her mentor, who remained a part of her life even after she graduated.
McBride said that throughout high school, her former principal would still make time to attend her lacrosse and volleyball games. “She’s known me my entire life,” she said.
Thomas Blaney is another alumnus who returned to teach at Our Lady of Grace. He said that he enjoyed the Montessori method because “You can cater to the individual.”
“We meet every child where they are,” Quinn said. “We’re not all the same.”
“The mixed age grouping also helps children advance.” Quinn said if an older kid is in class doing multiplication work and a younger kid is curious, he can teach the younger one, and this helps the confidence of both the younger and older child
“When we work together, we’re all different ages. That’s what we do here. It’s more natural, I think.”
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Quinn gave a rundown of some of the ways they incorporate Montessori values for the kids throughout the day.
Quinn said the younger ones start the day with a gross motor activity. “They’ll walk on a balance beam. Maybe they’ll do a hula hoop, crawl through a tunnel, all those kinds of things.”
During warm weather months, the older children care for a vegetable and flower garden. “They’re involved in the whole process from beginning to end—planting and sowing and reaping and then we do some cooking.”
Quinn acted quite bashfully when speaking about herself, but whenever anyone spoke about her, they were gushing.
“There’s something about Sister Kelly that is timeless,” Lancaster said. “People just feel calmer around her.”
“She never forgets a face or name, and that’s honestly one of her superpowers,” Blaney said. “Anytime she comes into the classroom, you can see that she commands attention.”
Lancaster said that the school plans to hold its annual spring fundraising gala in honor of Quinn’s 30th anniversary as principal.
“We’re expecting a huge turnout because everyone loves Sister Kelly,” Lancaster said. “She’s the face of the school.”
