Fr. Bill Finch, pastor of St. Raphael Catholic Church, is proud to announce the Rockville parish is expanding its offerings to include an elementary school. Commenting on the project he said, “Since my arrival four years ago I have been encouraged to develop a vision for our many young families which would include a Catholic elementary school. With the help of our parish council, finance council and countless parish advisors, we submitted a proposal to Cardinal McCarrick, and I am delighted with his response, enabling us to open our doors in September”
The news coincides with the 40th Anniversary of St. Raphael Parish which has a long history of programs for children. The Nursery School has been on site since 1969 and has more than 200 three and four year olds. It is the largest Catholic early childhood program in the area. In addition to the Nursery School, St. Raphael parish serves more than 1,000 children in the Religious Education program. The parish also unites junior high and senior high school students through its active Youth Ministry Program.
Leading the way in the new venture is Principal Teri Dwyer, who will expand her leadership role linking the existing early childhood program with the new elementary school. Mrs. Dwyer has been the Director of the Nursery School for the past 16 years. Before that she taught primary, middle, and junior high grades in Virginia and Pennsylvania.
Mrs. Dwyer commented that “For years families have asked why we didn’t have an elementary school here. What a gift it will be to watch our little ones grow, to learn to read, to do science fairs, and to cheer them as they play sports! Fr. Bill’s vision is making the dream of many families a reality.”
Looking to September, kindergarten veterans, Helen Landers and Mary Novajosky will work with a group of 20 students while the experienced team of Karen Hess and Anne Massa will have 25 1st graders.
Lots of work has already been done to prepare for this big announcement! Applications are available from the receptionist at St. Raphael’s 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 PM Monday through Friday.
If you have the Adobe Acrobat ™ Reader, and you probably do, you can download this printable enrollment application.
If you don’t have the Adobe Acrobat ™ Reader, it is available free from Adobe here.
other forms needed to enroll students in St. Raphael are available from the Forms page.
If you have questions please contact Teri Dwyer at 301-762-2143 x 121 or tdwyer@straphaels.org.