It was the Roaring ‘20s when St. Mary Star of the Sea School, now entering its 100th year, opened its doors in Hampton. Ever since, the school, the first opened by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation and staffed outside of Tennessee, has remained steadfast in educating children spiritually, academically, socially and emotionally.
When the school opened in 1923, it was housed in Bright View, which was once a hospital for wounded Civil War soldiers and later a hotel. Its enrollment was nearly 100 students. Over the years, expansions were constructed to accommodate a growing student body, which peaked at 910 in 1960. It now has 180 students from Pre-K3 to eighth grade.
Dominican Sister Mary Cecilia Goodrum, principal, said the jubilee theme from Psalm 116:12, “How can I Make a return to the Lord for all the good he has done for me?” highlights the school’s thankfulness for its century-long history.
“Hopefully this year will be a year of gratitude and to recognize what he’s done these past 100 years and really ask his blessing on the next St. Mary Star of the Sea, whatever that might be,” she said.
Teachers will explain what a jubilee is and will talk to the students about gratitude. The school day always starts with a prayer over the intercom, but this year, students will also all pray together in the gym on Monday mornings.
‘Everybody supports everybody’
Presiding at Mass on Wednesday, Aug. 24, Bishop Barry C. Knestout told the students in his homily that Jesus cares about them, is always with them, knows and understands their struggles and will give them the grace to overcome them.
Sister Mary Cecilia said the strengths of the school are its Catholic identity, small size and the beauty of the campus along Mill Creek.
“Everyone knows one another here,” and students “are known by name,” she said.
Melissa Mowery, mother of two St. Mary graduates and two current students, said having just one class per grade allows the children to build “very, very solid, strong friendships” and learn conflict resolution and how to get along with classmates who aren’t their friends because the students are with each other “for years and years.”
Amber Butler, who has children in Pre-K4 and second grade, is impressed with the togetherness of the student body. She explained that when she went to the end-of-the-year awards ceremony last year, all of the children cheered for each other, regardless of whether they won any awards.
“It was really lovely to watch that, just everybody supporting everybody,” Butler said, adding that the students were “genuinely excited for their friends.”
Madison Cruz, a college junior who attended St. Mary from Pre-K4 to eighth grade, said the small class sizes gave the teachers the ability to give her extra help when needed.
She added that St. Mary was “definitely instrumental in developing my character,” noting that the time she spent at the school helped form a “strong moral and ethical foundation.”
“I think that’s very helpful when you need to make decisions during not-so black-and-white situations,” she explained. “I also learned compassion and empathy through the school’s commitment to service as disciples of Christ because through service, we are able to show God’s love to all.”
She commended St. Mary for teaching her the Centennial a ‘year of gratitude’ at Hampton school reasons behind her faith.
“It’s important that you get all the answers yourself to your questions that you have, and through St. Mary’s, I was able to find these answers as well as loving Christ,” she said. “My faith has helped me through my toughest times, and there’s no other way I’d want it to be, and I’m really grateful for St. Mary’s for showing me that.”
Serving children of military families
St. Mary Star of the Sea School, near the now-inactive Fort Monroe, often had a large student body of military-connected children and was a haven as their parents were deployed in World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
“St Mary’s was their home,” Sister Mary Cecilia said. “There was a consistency and a stability when the world was in chaos.”
Today, about one-third of the students are military- connected children, and the school is a designated Purple Star School, meaning procedures, staff training and student and family activities are in place to ease the stressors like frequent moves and deployed parents.
The school’s waterfront property gives students the unique opportunity to bask in the beauty of God’s creation, Sister Mary Cecilia said, explaining that it is common for osprey and eagles to fly over the playground, and families sometimes see dolphins playing in the surf when children are dropped off at school. Such beauty “reflects the love of God” and is “transcendental,” she said.
“Truth and beauty and goodness – they naturally affect the soul,” she continued. When the students are outside, “there’s a peace and a calm” about them, and their interactions are “healthy and wholesome.”
St. Mary strives to shape the whole child, and faith is woven throughout the curriculum.
For example, Sarah Carbullido said her four children, who are in pre-K4 to third grade, have learned that God is “all loving, come as you are, no judgment; he loves you no matter what,” and she is pleased that the faith is taught at a level the children can understand.
Students take the core subjects, including religion, plus music, art, library, physical education and technology. The school has a waterfront classroom for marine science and STEM lessons, and marine science club activities.
“It’s their body, their soul, their mind, their heart – all of those areas are going to be impacted here at St. Mary’s for their positive development,” said second grade teacher Dominican Sister Imelda Garrison.
“Catholic education speaks to the child’s deepest needs,” she said, noting that educators often forget a child’s spiritual needs, that “even the youngest child can have such a depth,” and one can “underestimate” how much “even the smallest children can take in spiritually and how much they hunger for it even though they can’t articulate that.”
‘Best years of their life’
Many alumni and parents agreed that emphasis on faith is important.
Judith Campbell, who attended the school from third through eighth grade in the 1970s, said her best memory is going to adoration monthly, and to this day, that is “probably one of my favorite things to do with regard to my faith.” Her second favorite memory of the school is watching religious movies as a student body each month during the school day.
She said the religious foundation “helps the rest of your life fall into place the way it should be. It’s ordered in a positive, holy way.”
Vicki Sofianek, fifth grade and middle school science teacher, said the school has “a huge alumni population” that “stays a part of the St. Mary’s community for decades.” She said she often hears alumni say “things like ‘it was the best years of their life’ or ‘one of the best years’” or “’I couldn’t have done without this.’”
Likewise, Sister Mary Cecilia, who has been principal since summer 2021, said, “When I came to St. Mary’s, one of the most unusual experiences from here was at least once a week, someone would come to the school and would ask if they could just ‘see the old place’ because they went to school here for a time and they loved it here, and they usually say something like ‘we were just in the area, and we wanted to stop by.”
Sister Mary Cecilia, who has worked in schools across the country, said she has “never had that experience at any other elementary school” in which she has served. “So there’s something extraordinarily different about St. Mary’s, and there’s a reason that God has had it continue for a hundred years. And I’m so grateful to all of our sisters who’ve served here since 1923.”